Long Distance Call
by A maze thing
Summary: Gibbs is being haunted by a dead loved one, and Tony and the rest of the team is determined to find out what’s wrong. Maybe the dead don’t always stay dead.
1. Chapter 1

_Long Distance Call_

_Summary: Gibbs is being haunted by a dead loved one, and Tony and the rest of the team is determined to find out what's wrong. Maybe the dead don't always stay dead._

A/N: Uh, after being sick for a week and watching CSI, CSI:NY, and Supernatural all day long for 5 days straight, I came up with this. This takes places after Season 6 Episode 16 "Bounce", and is slightly based upon the episode "Long Distance Call" from Supernatural (Season 3 Episode 14). Also, this was originally about Gibbs mostly, but my slight obsession with DiNozzo has taken over this story.

Gibbs is a little OOC for probably the first 4 chapters, I know, so just bear with me please. I'm not really sure how much I like this story, so let me know what you think. Any suggestions, criticisms, and comments are greatly appreciated. Oh gosh, I keep remembering things. I get a little impatient so I just kind of jumped into the story without giving you the little "Oh what's wrong with Gibbs?" snippets. I just threw you right in there, so any questions I'll answer, and if you think I should, just to clarify, I'll write a little prologue-type chapter. Okay, seriously, I'm done…I hope.

* * *

Chapter 1: Ghost Caller

"DiNozzo, shoot. McGee, get statements. Ziva—" his phone rang, cutting him off. Angrily reaching into his pocket and wordlessly shooing the rest of the team off, not noticed Ziva looking at the two men with her, who shrugged in response. Gibbs didn't tell her what she was supposed to do. But before Gibbs could even turn away to answer the phone, he saw Tony give Ziva the sketchpad with a bright smile upon his face. _When was the last time Ziva sketched?_

Turning his attention away from his agents, Gibbs answered his cell with his usual greeting. "Gibbs."

* * *

"Tony, I will torture you. Just do it."

"Well let me think," he paused, looking upwards with his hand on his chin in mock thought. A grin appeared upon his face. "No. I think I can handle you."

"Oh really?" Ziva grinned and started sketching. She wasn't partially happy about doing so, but since Tony wouldn't swap tasks with her, she would have to figure out a more interesting way to get back at him. Oh, this ought to be fun.

Tony grinned at her, although he already knew she was thinking about revenge. It was always much more fun when he and Ziva started their own little 'prank war'. It kept them both on their feet and entertained during a case.

He kneeled down to get a better shot of the body. Clicking the button, the shutter closed and opened as the flash illuminated the body. Even though he knew that his job was taking pictures, his eyes kept shifting back towards Gibbs. Tony had noticed that his boss had become tired, agitated, and pissed…well, more than he usually was. And Gibbs didn't normally show it outwardly. Those random moments where Tony saw him pause to rest his eyes or allow the feelings to roam his face, even though it was for less than a minute. Tony had been working under Gibbs long enough to know that those weren't usual expressions for his boss. There was something wrong, he was sure of that, but he hadn't quite figured out what that something was yet. And hell would freeze over before he'd ask his boss.

Ziva glared at DiNozzo as he stood right in her way before she turned back to her sketch. With her back to Gibbs and McGee's attention was drawn solely upon gathering statements, Tony was the only one to see their boss's face flatter, changing from his normal emotionless facial expression. There was an emotion there, but Tony wasn't sure of what it was. It was something he'd never seen on his boss's face. If he had to guess, he'd say that it was a mixture of fear and pain.

As he continued to watch Gibbs, DiNozzo noticed an unease fall upon the older man before he slammed his phone shut. Gibbs' fingers shielded his eyes in an attempt to hide the fact that the overwhelming guilt and pain were safely running across his face. As he took a moment to return himself to his usual gruff self, Tony looked up at him. "Boss?"

"DiNozzo," Gibbs exhaustedly yelled, turning towards his agent. His hand dropped from his face and his expression hardened, "You better have something for me." Gibbs warned Tony, waiting for the other man to speak, but DiNozzo stayed silent. Without another word, Gibbs walked away, towards the newly arrived ME and his assistant. Before the pair even got out of the van, the silver-haired agent could hear their bickering. After all these years, they still couldn't get to a crime scene without getting lost and starting an argument.

Turning his attention away from his possibly half-deaf assistant (since he said left, and Palmer had turned right), Ducky walked up to Gibbs. "Jethro, where is our young petty officer?" Gibbs threw his thumb over his shoulder, and without another word, he disappeared.

* * *

"Anthony, where is Jethro? He's always here to find out the initial readings. Most of the time he is waiting upon me!"

DiNozzo looked up towards the direction of the voice before turning to the direction he thought his boss might have went. Looking there, Tony couldn't find any trace of the man. Quickly scanning the area for their 'fearless leader', Tony frowned before looking back at Ducky. "What ya got Ducky?"

Ducky smiled, "Your temporary command over the team is over m'dear boy." His smile grew larger at the end of his tease.

Returning a smile, Tony spoke, "Well if I'm gonna find Gibbs, I might as well have something to tell him."

"Ah, I see," the ME agreed while turning towards his assistant. "Mr. Palmer?"

"Well from the temperature of the liver, I'd say he's been dead for about 10 hours." Palmer smiled at them. He and Ducky seemed to be the happiest people to work with dead people.

Tony looked at Jimmy, waiting for more information. After a slightly prolonged silence, Palmer looked up, realizing his mistake. "Oh, sorry. Uh, it looks like natural causes."

"Like what?"

"Well we won't know exactly until we get him back to autopsy," Palmer spoke.

DiNozzo huffed a sigh. Natural causes? Gibbs wasn't going to go for that. If Tony was betting, he'd put his money on foul play. There was drag marks in the dirt that were obviously from someone dragging the body. The man was hidden under a large bush—that had particularly pointy thorns. He had his doubts.

"Alright," Tony accepted the man's words before walking off to find his boss.

* * *

It was so strange. So Weird. So unnatural. So…well, scary almost. Tony had never seen Gibbs look like that. And he truly never wanted to. So vulnerable. So hurt. It was unnerving, but Tony had to talk to him, they had a case. And once they got back to the Navy Yard, he'd talk to Abby and Ducky about Gibbs' recent behavior.

DiNozzo assumed that his boss might have gone to find some coffee and made his way towards their cars. Which was a damn lucky guess, for Gibbs was sitting in his car. Looking like that. Tony shook the image out of his mind.

Making his footsteps hard, heavy, and loud, Tony yelled something over his shoulder to no one. He didn't want Gibbs to know he had seen him like that. It would hurt his boss too much, causing DiNozzo to make a fool of himself—yelling to no one.

Gibbs' head rose as his eyes found the approaching noise. He could see the back of his senior field agent as he back pedaled towards the car, arms spread out in the air as he apparently spoke to someone—most likely a teammate.

A flash of fear ran threw his body before his face ran stone-cold. _Oh God. If DiNozzo saw me like that…_ Rubbing his hand over his face and through his hair, Gibbs fought with himself, searching for an excuse as to why he was not at the scene. But he could still hear her voice in his head. Could she really be alive? Had they been wrong? No…had _he_ been wrong?

A knock disrupted his thoughts and he could see DiNozzo's face in the window. From the look upon his face, one would assume that Tony hadn't seen Gibbs' moment of weakness, but Gibbs knew how good the younger man was at hiding the truth behind a charming, naïve face. "Boss Ducky—" he paused as Gibbs opened the car door. Taking a step back as to allow his boss room to get out, DiNozzo continued, "Ducky said, well actually Palmer said—" He stopped, awaiting the head slap that was certain to bring him back on track, but it was nonexistent. They all knew he hadn't been smacked in awhile and it was strange, but he continued anyway. "The TOD was about 10 hours ago. And it looks to be natural causes. But I'm not so sure."

Gibbs nodded at DiNozzo, but his mind still wasn't completely focused on the case. "Done shooting?"

"Yes boss and McGee seemed to be done taking statements and Ziva was just finished up her sketch."

"Good, let's get back." DiNozzo blinked at him before nodding. Gibbs had completely forgotten that they still needed to bag and tag any evidence found at the crime scene. Maybe his mind still wasn't as sharp as they thought it was. _No, no. Come on Tony, this is Gibbs we're talking about._

"On it boss." As he walked away from his boss and back towards the crime scene, Tony wondered. _Well how long could it possibly take him to collect evidence? _He rolled his eyes. At least he'll get Gibbs angry again.

* * *

"Where is DiNozzo?"

"Delivering the evidence to Abby," Ziva stated, getting up from her desk. Tony had been gone awhile, and he had just texted her that he was at Abby's.

"Good. McGee?" Gibbs questioned his agent, staring at the plasma. It's a wonder his eyesight wasn't horrible from all the time he spent staring at it. He could hear McGee typing as he hurried to get all his information on the screen. A photo of the dead petty officer appeared on the screen.

"Petty Officer Eric Johnson. He's stationed at Quantico. He had the day off yesterday. Said he was 'spending it with the Mrs.'. His wife," McGee paused before clicking a button, allowing a photo of a blonde-haired woman to cover the already existing picture. "is Sandra Johnson. She's not answering her cell or the landline."

"Ziva—" Gibbs was about to see what information Ziva had collected when the shrill ringing of his phone cut him off. The dreaded noise caused him to think of the last few phone calls he had. A fear ran through him as his eyes darted nervously towards the monstrosity.

Although this was all within a few seconds, it felt like an eternity for Gibbs. With a slight frown upon his face, he moved towards his desk. Closing his eyes, already hearing her voice in his ears, his fingers laced around the phone. Placing it to his ear, he gave his normal greeting, while noticing the slam of a backpack on the ground—Tony.

"Boss! I've got something for you!" Gibbs let out a silent breath as he heard Abby's voice. His shoulders relaxed as he rubbed a hand over his face. The fearful thoughts crept out of his head once he heard the bubbly lab technician's voice.

Characteristically hanging up the phone without another word, he turned to his team. "Find that missing wife." Walking purposefully towards the elevator, Gibbs felt the guilt he had been feeling for awhile. _I should have been there for her. She wouldn't have died if I was watching out for her. It's all my fault._

Tony watched his boss walk away before turning to look at his teammates. "What I miss?"

* * *

"Say, Pro-bay," Tony started out of his chair as he moved towards the younger agent. With his hands behind his back, he stepped closer to his friend, taking his time. "You get a fix on that missing wife yet?" His fingers ran across McGee's desk, and McGee looked up at the standing man. _What was he up to?_

"Not yet Tony," he looked back towards his computer. He, Tony, and Ziva had been calling anyone that had seemed to be in contact with Sandra Johnson, but no one had seen her.

Ziva watched as DiNozzo moved towards the middle of the bullpen. _Campfire,_ she thought. Tony had enjoyed doing them whenever he got the chance which wasn't often since Gibbs was there most of the time. Well not so much anymore. He seemed distracted, tired. Ziva couldn't figure out what it was exactly, but there was something going on with Gibbs. And there would be hell to pay if she confronted him.

Tony's lips parted with unspoken words as he was cut off by the sound of a phone ringing. Reaching for his pocket, DiNozzo realized that it wasn't his own cell. Turning towards his two partners to see who it was, he was met with two shaking heads in the negative. That only left…Gibbs' and the last time DiNozzo had seen Gibbs leave his cell phone…well he never did. It was either attached to his side or Gibbs was throwing it against the wall in frustration.

On any other day, Tony would have left the phone alone, but he'd been looking for trouble. Well at least trouble from Gibbs. Tony needed Gibbs to be mad at him or at least head slap him. It was so strange not getting the normal 'punishment'. Reaching out and grabbing the phone off the desk, Tony placed it against his ear and waited to see who it was.

"_Daddy?"_ DiNozzo furrowed his eyebrows. _Daddy? Gibbs?_ His expression wasn't lost upon his two co-workers who had immediately gotten out of their seats to get closer, hoping to hear the conversation Tony would be having, but also keeping their eyes on the elevator in case Gibbs came back.

"Who is this?" Almost immediately after his question there was a click that signaled the end of their connection. The person had hung up, but what was that all about? If it was the wrong number they would have said something…right? And Gibbs isn't a father. Well he was, but…not anymore.

"Who was it?" Ziva asked anxiously. She looked between Tony's frozen expression of confusion and McGee's look of intrigue. Tony snapped the phone shut before placing it back on Gibbs' desk.

His long legs carried him away from the bullpen, Ziva calling after him. "Where are you going?"

"I've got a lead," he called back as the elevator closed. A lead, yes. But not for the case. He had a lead to what might be making Gibbs so uneasy, so…unGibbs-like. He'd have to talk to Abby and Ducky sooner than he'd thought.

* * *

A/N: As I said, I'm not too sure about this story, so let me know what you think. I felt like the death of Gibbs' family (Kelly and Shannon) was kind of brushed over. It's mentioned slightly in episodes like "Lost and Found" (Season 5 Episode 9), when Gibbs is asked if he has any children. But other than that, it's not really explored I guess. Also, I'm a sucker for a little Gibbs-DiNozzo, father-son connection.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, story alerted, favorited, etc. It means a lot. I'm going to try to get a new chapter up every week at the latest._

_Today I saw Season 1 Episode 15 Enigma, in which Tony 'borrows' Gibbs' phone. I had seen the episode before, but completely forgot about Gibbs' reaction. "DiNozzo, touch my phone again, I'll break your finger." It might appear later on, but if not, it just made me think about this story. Now, I'm just waiting for the new episode of NCIS to air…next week._

* * *

Chapter 2:

Tony had clicked the button that would send him down to Abby. He was hoping that his boss wasn't still down there, but if Gibbs was, then Tony would just have to go down to see Ducky instead. Either way, he was still worried about what he had heard on Gibbs's phone. Although it wasn't totally out of the ordinary, there was still a slight shiver that ran up his back that made his hairs stand out. And after working with Gibbs for all these years, you learn to go with the feeling in your gut.

Hearing Abby's music blasting was a good sign that his boss wasn't there, but DiNozzo still took a few cautious steps towards the door of Abby's lab. If Gibbs was in there, a quick and quiet getaway was necessary.

Luckily, as he peeked in, only Abby stood in front of her computers. Moving into the room, he took a quick look around, making sure Gibbs was nowhere to be seen. "Hey, Abbs! Where's Gibbs?" Tony slightly shouted over the music.

Turning around with a smile upon her lips, Abby answered, "He went to see what Ducky found." She looked down at his empty hands, asking, "Got anything for me?" She smiled, lifting an eyebrow curiously as she wondered if there was another Caf-Pow in store for her.

"Sorry Abbs, but I need to talk to you." He paused shortly before adding, "About Gibbs." He moved further into the room, and she kicked a chair towards him while seating herself in her own chair. There was no denying the worried look upon Abby's face as she stared at him.

"Shoot." Tony leaned forward, trying to think of how to start this off. He needed Abby to bug Gibbs' phone, but how on earth was he going to get her to agree to that? And it wasn't so much bugging his phone as tracking that phone number. _Damnit, I should have written it down._ Maybe he should just ask her if she'd do it.

"Abby, I'm going to ask you something that needs to be kept top secret." He watched as her eyes widened with excitement. Who could pass up doing something top secret? "And before you say no, you have to hear me out. Okay?"

"Of course, Tony. Now spill." She leaned forward, now only a few inches away from his face. A smile crept upon her face.

"I need you to locate a number for me," he looked up hopefully at her as she shot up and out of her seat. Turning towards the keyboard, her fingers hovered over the keys, awaiting some direction. Her head turned towards Tony with a smile.

"What's the number?"

"That's the problem. I don't know it."

"Well then how am I gonna locate it?"

"Well you're Abby and I was kinda hoping…" He stopped once he received the 'I-may-be-amazing-but-I'm-not-capable-of-magic' look. Smiling quickly, Tony tried to ask something that he knew Abby would be bothered by. "Then could you bug Gibbs' phone." He said it quickly before closing his eyes tight and turned his head away slightly, afraid of her reaction. At first he just heard a gasp escape her lips, and he didn't have to wait long for her reaction.

"Tony! How could you think of such a thing!? We couldn't possibly do that to Gibbs!"

Before she could say anything else, DiNozzo cut her off. "Wait! Let me explain!" He threw his arms up in the air before placing his index finger on over her lips. "Abby, please." She nodded before pulling away. She made the international 'my lips are sealed' gesture before sitting back down in her seat to stare at him. There was curiosity in her eyes as she wanted to know why Tony would ask her to invade Gibbs' privacy like that.

Tony let out a sigh and sat down as well. "Gibbs has been…" he ran a hand through his hair, ending at the back of his head. "Different. He's been distracted and tired! The man never sleeps! Why is it affecting him now?"

Abby was about to answer that, but she realized that it wasn't the time for her to talk. She needed to hear Tony through.

"I answered his phone before." A slight gasp of shock reached his ears, but Abby nodded her head, signaling for him to continue. "And a little girl asked for her 'Daddy'. And unless I've missed something, Gibbs isn't a father."

"Tony it could have been a wrong number."

DiNozzo stood up suddenly, moving towards the door and then turning around back to Abby, pacing angrily. "No. I know there's something more. I've seen the look on Gibbs' face when the phone rings. When we were at the crime scene, Gibbs was sitting in his car, looking so…so…not Gibbs!" He stopped pacing and looked at her.

Standing up slowly, she moved towards Tony. Tapping his stomach gently, she said, "Can't deny the gut feeling."

* * *

After swearing Abby to absolute secrecy, Tony made his way down to Autopsy. He needed to talk to someone that could think about this logically. Ducky had known Gibbs the longest and Tony trusted Ducky almost as much as Gibbs. There was no one else that could help him like he knew Ducky could.

When the elevator doors opened, Tony got a glance at a…well he didn't really know how to describe it. But the way Gibbs sounded made him want him to kill whoever was on the other end of the phone. "I'm so sorry. I should have—No, no. I know. Don't cry…Please, honey. I love you."

Tony had it all pictured in his mind: walking up to Gibbs, grabbing his phone, yelling something into the phone, and slamming it shut before taking Gibbs and the cell phone to see Abby. But in reality, Tony would never do anything of the sort.

Instead, Tony walked into the room and looked upon his boss with concern. "Gibbs?" Tony asked quietly, trying not to surprise the man that he held in such high regards. But as soon as Gibbs looked upon the senior field agent, DiNozzo wished he hadn't been there. Tears were running down his cheeks, his eyes were tinted a slight red from crying, and a look of complete despair and desperation was upon his face_. "Oh God, Gibbs, are you okay?"_ is what Tony was thinking in his head, but instead all he could do was breath, "Gibbs?"

Pushing past Tony quickly, the older man almost jumped into the elevator shaft. "Boss, wait!" Tony yelped, stepping into the elevator before the doors could begin to shut. With a glance towards his superior DiNozzo could see that Gibbs' phone was still open, being caressed by one of his finger tips. Gibbs' face was turned away from Tony, but there was no mistaking the guilt and upset upon his face.

_What do I do? Do I talk to him? Do I…God, what am I gonna do?_ After clicking the button to Abby's lab, Tony switched the elevator into a standstill, entering Gibbs' office. But as soon as they had entered it, Gibbs' hand flew out and started the elevator up again. Tony furrowed his eyebrows, it really wasn't the time to play 'Who's more stubborn?', but he had to get Gibbs to talk to him. He hit the switch again. "Look Boss…"

Gibbs didn't look at him, but hit the switch again. "Special Agent DiNozzo, I advise you to get out once the doors open," the older man grounded out a little too angrily. His voice was so filled with raw emotion it made Tony flinch slightly.

"Gibbs, I'm not getting off." He hit the switch again and touched Gibbs' shoulder. _God, what am I doing?_ He tried to turn Gibbs around so that he would look at him. But the next thing he knew he was pinned against the wall of the elevator. Gibbs' hand was an inch away from his face, slammed against the wall. His teeth were gritting together as anger boiled up inside. It was the first time that Tony had seriously been afraid of his boss, and he didn't enjoy seeing this side of Gibbs. Gibbs' grip upon his arm was tight as he still leaned the other hand against the wall of the elevator. Gibbs glared at him. "Gibbs?" Tony asked, a little annoyed at how small and scared his voice sounded. He hadn't remembered feeling this scared since he was a kid and his father had had a few too many drinks.

Letting out a sigh and flipping the switch that allowed the elevator to continue ascending, Gibbs moved away from Tony while saying, "You disobey an order again and you're off the team."

DiNozzo let out a breath, composing himself. _Oh God, what happened Gibbs?_ He nodded, turning his head towards the elevator door. They stood in silence under the elevator doors opened, and Tony walked out—although his body yelled at him to run out. Without even looking back at his boss, Tony missed the look of guilt and sadness on Gibbs' face, as his mouth tried to form the words of an apology, but it never came.

* * *

Tony was caught between two places. He should probably go back up to the bullpen and continue to work on the case they had, but that meant being in the same area as Gibbs. And not that he didn't like the man, but after what happened, Tony just needed to get to the bottom of what had happened before the elevator incident. He should probably go talk to Ducky, but seeing as he was already in the lab, he should check to see if Abby was able to bug Gibbs' cell yet and locate the number. Now he knew there was something off with Gibbs. And he was a little worried about his two teammates upstairs, although he knew they could handle themselves; he just wasn't sure if they could handle an overly angry and emotional Gibbs.

"Abbs do you have—" Tony paused as he noticed McGee standing in the lab along side her. _Shit._ He noticed the look upon Abby's face, telling him to shut up, but he didn't need to see it. He froze for a moment as he stared at McGee with surprise, who returned a confused look.

"Tony?" McGee turned his head slightly and looked at Abby quickly before turning his eyes back to DiNozzo. It didn't take an investigator to figure out that there was something going on between them two. Giving one last look between them, McGee asked, "What are you two up to?"

"Nothing!" they both yelped at once almost immediately after the question was asked. McGee smiled brightly, taking a few steps as he made his way over to Tony. Continuing his steps, he started to circle around his partner.

"Really? You two are pretty suspicious."

"Looking for some ideas for your new book? Eh, Probie?" Tony misdirected, grinning at the man circling him. A frown formed as he continued to watch McGee. Putting a foot out, Tony tried to trip the younger man unsuccessfully.

"Nice try Tony." But while McGee was staring at Tony, Abby was quickly scribbling something down on a piece of paper. Tony's eyes had flickered towards her, noticing her actions, and he quickly made sure he'd keep McGee busy.

Tony smiled at him before grabbing hold of his shoulders. "You're just missing something McGee."

"What's that?" McGee furrowed his eyebrows, squinting his eyes slightly as he wondered what Tony had up his sleeve. Tensing only slightly, Tim looked at DiNozzo, a little worried of what his partner was talking about.

Tony looked over at Abby, who was now holding up a folded piece of paper in her hand. Waving it enthusiastically, Tony moved around McGee and plucked it out her hand before placing a kiss on her cheek as Gibbs normally did. "Nothing," Tony said, shaking his head slightly as he fought back a grin until he reached the elevator. Wanting to make his way down to Autopsy, DiNozzo almost glared when McGee stepped into the cart after him. He clicked the button up to the bullpen, but luckily the elevator started to descend. At least he wouldn't get caught by Gibbs avoiding him. Yeah, Tony couldn't lie to himself; he was avoiding Gibbs, and just thinking of how temperamental he must be made DiNozzo want to protect McGee and Ziva all the more.

* * *

He glanced back at the closing doors of the elevator before stepping into Autopsy, making sure that McGee was going back up. Tony looked down at his watch, almost tempted to 'synchronize' it like almost every robber or spy did before doing something daring. Although Tony knew that this wasn't a movie and his 'something daring' definitely beat out all the rest: disobeying, avoiding, bugging, and basically stepping upon every single morale code there is in a boss-subordinate relationship. But he could take the consequences if he helped out his boss. The common good, right?

"Hey Ducky." Tony spoke with fake enthusiasm as the doors closed behind him. Palmer and Ducky were standing over the body of their dead petty officer, but Tony couldn't have cared if he walked in on them having a tea party. He needed to talk to Ducky and quickly. "Uh, Palmer, could I talk to Ducky privately?"

Palmer looked at Dr. Mallard before turning back to Tony with a smile, "I'll take—" he paused as he looked around himself. He stopped and grabbed an empty Petri dish, "This to Abby."

Once Tony knew that Palmer was out of ear shot he turned back to Ducky. "What is it that you need to speak to me about, Tony?"

"I need to talk to you about Gibbs." Leaning against one of the tables situated in the middle of the room, Tony let out a sigh. _What did I truly plan to accomplish here?_

Ducky nodded before taking his gloves off and moving towards the sink. "So you've noticed too." Tony's head popped up violently, glad that his suspicions had even been confirmed by Ducky. The older man's words were just as valued as Gibbs' were.

"Do you know what's going on?"

"No m'dear boy, but I presume you are going to find out." Ducky turned back towards Tony, turning off the water with his elbow. He looked towards the younger man and noticed the sullen look upon his face. "Has something happened?"

"No…yes…I don't know. Gibbs just hasn't been…well Gibbs lately. And I think someone's threatening him or something over the phone." Tony looked straight into Ducky's eyes as he continued, feeling the strength from the ME. "Whenever the phone rings, he stiffens. Almost as if he's…scared." As Tony said scared, it came out forced and a little choked, almost as if it was impossible for him to say. "At the crime scene, he was just so…I don't know!"

Ducky moved closer, placing a hand upon DiNozzo's shoulder. With a sad smile, he said, "Tony, I do believe your suspicions are correct. I'm afraid I've noticed his reaction to phone calls."

"But what are we supposed to do? I…" He paused. _Come on, it's Ducky, you can tell him._ He let out a breath, "I had Abby bug his phone." He looked up at Ducky, expecting a look of disapproval and a reprimanding remark, but wasn't greeted with one. There was a look of shock, but it quickly molded to a look of understanding and acceptance, nodding his head slowly.

"Although, this is probably not the best way to handle this, I don't see another choice. Once you find out what is bothering Jethro, let me know." Ducky spoke, still nodded as he considered what the repercussions of this action would be.

* * *

McGee walked up towards the bullpen, noticing Gibbs already standing in front of the plasma. He gulped suddenly as he realized that he'd been gone from his chair the entire time and didn't have anything to show for it. He didn't know where Sandra Johnson was, and Abby had been pretty deflective. So was DiNozzo.

Tim stopped suddenly and let out a breath. He walked right behind and past Gibbs, taking a seat at his desk, chancing a glance up at his boss. No reaction.

Normally Gibbs would have said something, glared, maybe even a head smack—even those had disappeared recently—but there was absolutely no recognition that the older man had noticed McGee's sudden appearance. Although Tim was relieved that his boss wasn't going to reprimand him, he was worried that maybe the punishment would come at a later date, a little more unexpected. As Gibbs had said to Tony, it's no fun if you know its coming.

But something told Tim—maybe a gut feeling—that Gibbs wasn't paying attention. Gibbs did get very invested in the cases, but he had never missed an excuse to 'reprimand' one of them for goofing off. Maybe he was just distracted or maybe he was just so intent on the case that he had let McGee slide.

Whatever the reason, Tim wasn't enjoying this day one bit. Tony and Abby are hiding something, acting strangely, and Gibbs was just distracted. He peered over at Ziva who was looking at her computer and sighed; was he the only one noticing all this?

* * *

Ziva's eyes glanced up at McGee before turning towards Gibbs. She continued to busy herself with the search for the missing wife, but there didn't seem to be much to find. Although she felt as though she was the only one truly thinking about the case anymore. She had noticed Gibbs new slumped posture, tired stance, and absentminded presence. There was definitely something going on with him, but it was not her place to butt into such things, especially when it came to Gibbs. There was no room for anyone, other than himself, in his personal life, and Ziva accepted that. She felt the same way about herself.

Tony had been gone for a very long time and although Ziva was sure that it was no where near productive towards the case, she couldn't figure out what he could be doing. After answering Gibbs' phone—a big mistake on DiNozzo's part—Tony had run off. He still hadn't returned and it was almost nearing an hour later. She wasn't sure if she should be worried or pissed.

McGee just seemed lost at the moment. She couldn't be exactly sure what was bothering her friend, but Ziva knew that he had noticed the disappearance of DiNozzo and Gibbs. It was odd to see Gibbs' inaction to McGee's obvious disobedience towards the progress of the case. But who was she to really set on his toes? Although she knew that if Gibbs didn't real the team in quick and get everyone focused on the case, she'd have to say something.

* * *

_A/N: So everyone seems to realize something's wrong. Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think._


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks so much for the comments and everything! They truly make my day! Everything that it is italicized is either from a phone conversation or thoughts.

* * *

Chapter 3:

Tony stepped into the bullpen, still talking on the phone. He glanced around at the three people sitting at their desks and could tell that they had gotten no where. His eyes lingered momentarily over the sullen and wary look upon his boss's face, but turned towards his desk and finished up his conversation on the phone. He could feel the fear rise up inside him, reminding him of the tough times in his childhood. Tony had never felt this kind of fear towards someone he loved since before his father disowned him. He never wanted to feel like that again.

Before making his way up from Ducky's, DiNozzo had called in a few favors (probably the only ones he had left from working at NCIS this long), and he was able to get a possible location of Sandra Johnson. It was the only way he could think of to get back on his boss's good side. "Boss, there may have been a sighting of Johnson's wife on 7th Street."

Tony looked over at McGee and Ziva—both looking shocked and a little angry that he had been the only one to get information—before turning to Gibbs. Without even looking up, Gibbs said, "Take McGee."

DiNozzo looked at McGee as he grabbed his gear; normally he would have complained since he knew that Tim was going to start asking him questions, but the slight fear he felt caused him to back down. He had never truly been afraid of Gibbs, maybe a little afraid of being on the receiving end of his temper or of disappointing him, but never of the man himself. Although Tony was trying to keep his normal demeanor during a case, he still couldn't help, but glance at Gibbs every few moments, waiting for him to explode.

* * *

McGee sighed heavily; after asking Tony multiple times what he and Abby had been up to, he was still nowhere. Tim had started to grow worried at first, afraid that maybe Tony was planning on pulling a prank on him or something, but it soon turned to anger. What could they possibly be doing that he couldn't know about? Why couldn't he be trusted? And what in the hell could they be doing? Was it even legal?

McGee shook his head as he walked Sandra Johnson into one of the interrogation rooms. Placing her down in the seat, he left, knowing that Gibbs would probably want to talk to her before anyone. He frowned slightly; Tim hadn't been able to interrogate someone in awhile. DiNozzo got to interrogate while he was in charge and Ziva was a master at interrogating, and all he got was a look through the one-way mirror.

Another sigh left his lips as he saw that Tony wasn't behind him anymore, not that it was totally a surprise. He had been brushing McGee off left and right, trying to deflect, avoid, and misdirect every question that Tim sent his way.

With a silent growl, McGee made his way towards the elevator. Soon a smirk crossed his lips. He could tell that Sandra Johnson had killed her husband, just from the anxious exterior, nervous stuttering, and fidgeting. The case was closed as far as Tim was concerned, and this gave him the opportunity to get to the bottom of what Tony and Abby were up to. He could sneak around, wait behind corners, watch them from a distance; he'd be trailing them all day. It was his job after all. And plus, he'd be able to find out what they were doing without them finding out. It'd be perfect. Tim didn't have much else to do now that the case was closed other than paperwork, but that could wait.

* * *

Ziva jumped at Gibbs' growl of frustration. Her eyes traveled to his prowling body as he paced the bullpen. He gritted his teeth together in frustration and Ziva knew it had to do with DiNozzo's and McGee's negligence to come and tell Gibbs if they found the wife or not. Although she knew it had to be something more. Gibbs had been more agitated than normal, and the two agents' disappearing act wasn't helping his mood.

Luckily Ziva's cell phone went off and Tony's number flashed. Answering the phone quickly, Tony told Ziva that McGee was taking Sandra to the interrogation rooms while he took care of a few things in Abby's lab. "Gibbs is pissed Tony," Ziva told him quietly. "He is going to have your head."

"Yea, I know. But this is pretty important." And before Ziva could say anything else the line disconnected. Ziva stared at the phone in disbelief before turning to her boss.

"McGee took Sandra Johnson to Interrogation One Gibbs." Ziva stated it with an even expression before turning back to her computer. She wasn't completely sure what her boss was going to do, but she feared that Sandra was going to be on the receiving end of his anger. If it was McGee or Tony, it wouldn't be so bad since they were used to Gibbs, but Sandra had no idea what she was dealing with.

Without a word, Gibbs stormed off towards the interrogation rooms. Her head followed her boss's angry, but still slow movement. She frowned slightly as she continued to watch Gibbs. She might have to talk to him sooner rather than later.

* * *

After leaving McGee alone with Sandra, Tony slipped over to the elevator and made his way down to Abby's. He was pleased that he was able to find the missing wife, but he felt guilty for leaving McGee to deal with her alone. After calling Ziva—hoping that he gave McGee enough time to get out of Gibbs' way—he turned his concentration onto the note that Abby had written him. He still hadn't had the chance to read it, although he had assumed what was on there.

_The trace is up._

He looked up as the elevator doors opened, facing the blistering wraith of Abby's music. Looking over at Abby, who was staring at something on one of the monitors, DiNozzo noticed how her demeanor had changed. She would normally be bouncing around the lab, enjoying her music and her work, but at the moment, she was very still, unhealthily still for Abby. Her body was stiff as she stared, and Tony could tell that what he had told her about Gibbs was getting to her.

"Abby?" Tony tried loudly, coming up behind her slowly. He gripped her shoulders lightly before she turned around to look at him. A frown was on her face as she let out a sigh.

"No calls have come in yet Tony."

"Don't worry Abby. It's probably nothing," Tony answered quickly. He didn't want to believe that something was wrong, but he knew. But putting Abby through this was making him feel like he was stealing some sort of innocence from her.

Before Abby could say something, the computer chirped and both of their eyes moved towards it. A number flashed across the screen as Tony fought to understand how to feel. Someone was calling Gibbs—not a number that Tony had recognized—but DiNozzo wasn't sure if this should be a good thing or not. If this was the cause of Gibbs' temper, then DiNozzo should be happy, but it was also hurting Gibbs and the more they called the worse Gibbs felt.

A ringing noise came from the computer while the next screen started its trace. _"Gibbs."_

* * *

Gibbs' teeth grounded together as he noticed Ziva move into the observation room. _Why in the hell did they wait so long to tell me she was here!?_ Gibbs continued towards the Interrogation room, although not all his anger was towards his two agents. His mind kept wandering back to the 'incident' in the elevator with DiNozzo. He knew he should probably say something to Tony, but what could he possibly say?

His phone went off and he froze for a moment. Terrified of who was on the other end. His cold fingers wrapped around the cell, and his blood rang cold as he noticed the number on the screen. Not wanting to answer the phone, but never one to disappoint his daughter, Gibbs placed the phone to his ear in silently anxiety. "Gibbs."

* * *

Tony and Abby both exchanged worried, yet slightly excited looks as they heard Gibbs answer his phone. There was a short pause after Gibbs' greeting, before _"Daddy?"_ Quickly Abby's expression changed to confusion as she furrowed her eyebrows and looked Tony. DiNozzo, on the other hand, was actually expecting this and simply continued to stare at the vibrating lines that indicated vocal recognition.

"_Kelly…"_ Gibbs breathed, but there was a large amount of sorrow and pain in it. Abby and Tony had never heard those two things so strongly in their bosses' words before, and it scared them.

"_Daddy, why weren't you there? I screamed for you,"_ the childish innocence they heard in the child's original word was now gone. It was replaced by anger and rage, driving the words into the hearts of those listening.

"_I'm so sorry Kelly. If I had known—"_

"_This is your fault! I needed you. Mommy needed you. And you weren't there! Why weren't you there Daddy?! I was so scared. I was…so scared."_ As the voice continued, its words started to ease away from anger and became sorrow, pain, and fear. Abby's hands moved to her mouth as she listened, tears in her eyes.

A hiccup escaped their boss's mouth and DiNozzo knew that Gibbs was crying. _"I'm so sorry Kelly. I should have been there. I should have."_ The hitched sobbing followed, but it was much quieter than the hiccup.

"Gibbs…" Abby breathed.

"Aw hell," DiNozzo muttered, sounding dangerously like his boss. Tony was still afraid of his boss after his outburst towards him, but there was no way he could let Gibbs go through this. His protective nature kicked in before he shook his head and turned to Abby. "You tracing this?" She nodded solemnly as she continued to stare at the screens. "How long?" She didn't answer.

"_Why didn't you stop them!? Why did you let them kill us?! It hurts Daddy. It hurts."_

"Abs, how long?" Tony all but yelled at her. He was itching to see his boss now. Now he knew what the hell was bothering him so much.

Abby moved towards the computer and typed on the keyboard. After a few moments she answered, "Less than a minute."

"Good, as soon as you get the location, call me," Tony said forcefully as he moved towards the elevator. He ran towards the door, jabbing the button hard as he waited for the shaft. He didn't hear Abby's response, but he could hear Gibbs' voice carry to him.

"_I—I, oh God Kelly, I'm so sorry! I love you!"_

* * *

McGee was greeted with a frustrated and anger DiNozzo once the elevator opened to Abby's lab. He had planned to bust into the lab quietly, and see what the two were up to, but instead he stood in the elevator. With a low growl Tony asked, "Getting off Probie?" as he hit the button up to the bullpen.

"Nope," Tim said evenly. He wasn't particularly happy with the way everyone was acting recently, but maybe everyone was having an off few days. He shrugged silently to himself, as he watched the tension build in his partner's features, starting with his hunched back. Tony's breath was ragged and rough as his hands gripped the rails of the elevator shaft. "Are you alright?" he asked, definitely a little concerned about his partner's state of being. Tim wasn't sure if Tony was hurt somehow, whether it was physically or mentally, but his mind turned to the time when Ziva's worry for Tony was misguided. She had assumed he was sick again, while he was undercover for the Director. A slight smile crept upon his face as he remembered walking in on Ziva searching y-pestis online and how he had been able to put together her idea.

"I'm fine," DiNozzo bit out. His breath had evened out. His voice wasn't exactly angry, but there was something harsh in it. A small shrill noise came from Tony's pocket, causing him to dig his hand into it a little bit more forcefully than he had to. Pulling it out and looking at the number, he silenced the phone and placed it back into his pocket.

Tim nodded as he tried to understand what the hell was going on with the team. His eyes flickered towards the now opening elevator doors. Tony all but ran out of them, followed quickly by McGee. DiNozzo was debating upon whether or not to yell at Tim, getting rid of him, but instead, he decided against snapping at the man. Tim didn't deserve his anger. Whoever was tormenting Gibbs did.

As Tony neared the Interrogation Rooms, he could see Ziva poke her head out of the Observation Room. He would have smiled at her confused look if he were not so worried and concentrated on his boss at the moment. His eyes met hers before he said, "Stay." He almost sounded just like Gibbs. Ziva watched as Tony moved towards their boss, whose back was towards them. She cocked an eyebrow at the senior field agent before noticing Tim stop next to her.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"I don't know," McGee answered, watching Tony and Gibbs with great interest.

* * *

_Just get him angry enough so McGee and Ziva don't see him like this_. DiNozzo walked up behind his boss, grabbing hold of Gibbs' cell phone and slapped the top shut, turning it off. The satisfying slap made Tony smile slightly before the older man turned to look at him. Almost dropping the phone as he placed it in his pocket, Tony examined the…tears coming down Gibbs' face. _Oh God._ DiNozzo knew that Gibbs had been crying, but it just didn't have the same effect as it did in person. His dazed look stayed until he heard the silver-haired agent yelped, "DiNozzo!"

_Was that anger or was that pain?_ Tony frowned as he suddenly felt the roles reverse once again; just not professionally this time. His index finger curled into itself, signaling for Gibbs to follow him. "In your office, Gibbs," DiNozzo spoke quietly before walking past him and in the direction he had just come. It had become a second nature.

Gibbs followed quickly, not bothering to look at his two other agents. He didn't even look up when Ziva asked, "What about Mrs. Johnson?"

"McGee'll handle it," Tony threw over his shoulder before disappearing out of sight, followed quickly by Gibbs.

Ziva and McGee exchanged looks before a broad smile manifested on Tim's face. Not forgetting about what just happened (or rather, what he didn't know happened), Tim rushed into the Interrogation Room before Ziva could beat him to it. His excitement never died for it had been so long since he was able to interrogate someone.

Giving one last glance at the last spot she had seen both her boss and Tony, Ziva returned to the Observation Room to watch Sandra Johnson confess.

* * *

A/N: I know, I know. Definitely a DiNozzo and Gibbs confrontation in the next chapter, I promise. I hope this chapter was to your liking. I wasn't too ecstatic about this chapter, but *shrugs*. Let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Alright, so I rewrote this chapter twice since I just didn't seem to like the way it was turning out. No excuses though. Thanks so much for the comments and everything! They are great motivators!

* * *

Chapter 4:

The elevator shaft hadn't even made it to the next floor when Tony flipped the emergency switch, stopping the elevator. He frowned as he wondered if the elevator would ever break from all these visits to Gibbs' office. Shaking that out of his mind, he placed his hand in his pocket and silenced his phone again as it started to ring. He didn't even bother to look at the number to see who it was; nothing was more important than dealing with Gibbs and that damn phone call.

They stood in an awkward silence, Tony was a little uneasy since the last encounter with Gibbs inside the elevator was a not pleasurable one, nor was he certain how to begin such a conversation, while Gibbs had no desire to talk to DiNozzo about anything. Gibbs wasn't even in the mood to work or do anything that didn't involve a large bottle of bourbon and his boat, and he wasn't even sure that would help him. Tony wasn't even sure he could fix this either.

Looking away from Tony, Gibbs fought with his decision on whether or not he should start the shaft back up again. "Gibbs what the hell is going on?" Tony asked, making Gibbs' decision for him. The older man frowned, not completely sure what he had heard in the younger man's voice; anger? Or was that disappointment?

"You tell me."

"Don't give me that!" Tony snapped. Letting out a calming breath, DiNozzo recomposed himself. Getting angry and flustered would only agitate Gibbs more. Tony needed Gibbs to be…well able to confide in him and Tony had no idea how to make Gibbs comfort enough to do so. Hell, DiNozzo wasn't even sure he truly knew his boss to begin with. "I know that you are hurting," he eased, staring at the floor. He wasn't sure if he should look Gibbs straight in the eye or not, but he felt that eye contact may not be the best move since it would normally fuel his anger upon seeing the pain in the older man's eyes, or the tears.

"I'm fine DiNozzo," Gibbs insisted, glancing slightly at Tony. Feeling the eyes upon him, Tony looked up and felt the anger rise inside him.

"No you're not." Tony said calmly, "I can still see the tears in your eyes." Gibbs immediately wiped at his eyes, trying to destroy all evidence of the pain he was feeling. "Just…" Tony paused, adverting his eyes to the ground, trying to not sound so helpless. He didn't want to beg his boss, but the need to beg was a little overwhelming. "Just let me help you." He looked up at Gibbs, but received no answer. His glistening blue eyes poured in Tony's without an ounce of reassurance. It was mostly a blank stare.

"Look, Tony."

"No." Tony stated angrily. "No." Gibbs stared at the younger man's down-turned face in confusion. His voice was strong and demanding as well as angry. "Damnit, why won't you let me help you!? What the hell is wrong with you!?"

"Help with what?!" Gibbs yelled, suddenly feeling his anger boil. His temper flared as he turned his entire body to face DiNozzo. "Nothing's wrong!" Neither of the men was convinced though.

DiNozzo huffed in frustration. He glared at his boss, pissed. He could tell that Gibbs wasn't about to open up to him and that infuriated him even more. "Fine! Ya know what?! If you don't give a crap, then fine. Just fine!" He flipped the emergency switch and the elevator doors opened moments later.

Gibbs stepped out, expecting DiNozzo to follow, but he was wrong. Tony leaned back against the elevator, pressed the button he needed before clicking the Close Door button multiple times until it responded. "I'll fix it myself," Tony vowed as the doors closed, leaving Gibbs worried and regretful, once again. This was the second time that DiNozzo left him feeling like he had treated the younger man wrongly. Gibbs frowned at the door before he felt himself tense and build up his walls again. How could he let himself get that bad? Wasn't it bad enough that he had already pushed Tony out of the elevator, but now Tony was pushing him out?

He could hear voices and quickly his cold blue eyes turned to see a faintly familiar woman being escorted in handcuffs toward the elevator. Sandra Johnson he assumed. His eyes moved towards his overjoyed agent, complete with a satisfied smile on his lips, while Ziva just stare at him. Her expression said 'I will find out what is going on', which he knew she wouldn't stop until she did.

"I want your reports by 1600 hours," Gibbs spoke sharply, walking past them and heading away from them. It had been a long day and Gibbs was way past his breaking point. And sadly, the day was only halfway over.

* * *

"Abs, give me the location," Tony said bitterly walking into the room and standing in front of the monitor. He glared at the screen while Abby pulled up the trace, displaying a map with the coordinates pinpointed along with the actual address and owner's name. He stared at it as he committed it to memory before nodding.

"Tony, what are you going to do?" she asked frightened. She didn't want Tony to go off and do something stupid to protect Gibbs. Of course Abby wanted Gibbs' torment to stop and she wanted whoever was responsible to pay, but not at the price of Tony's life.

"I'm gonna get the bastards." He turned away from the screen with an expressionless face and left the room. She stared at the area where he had just been standing, eyes wide.

Abby quickly turned back around and called Ducky. He always knew what to do.

* * *

Tony had stopped by the bullpen, grabbed his SIG and got out of there before anyone could ask him what the hell he was doing. To be totally honest, DiNozzo wasn't really sure what the hell he was doing either. All he knew was that he was going to get to the bottom of whoever was tormenting Gibbs.

His knuckles turned white as his grip on the steering wheel only tightened upon thinking of his next move. He could feel the heated anger bubble up as his face turned a flustered pink. Tony's body was tense and stiff as he drove to the location. Someone was going to deal with a terribly pissed off DiNozzo.

Tony could hear his cell phone buzzing on the passenger seat as it slowly made its way onto the floor. Ignoring it, he knew it was most likely Abby. There was no way he could talk to her; she'd try to stop him. He pulled into the origin of the phone calls—the ones from Gibbs' dead daughter. His teeth gritted together at the thought, knowing that if he had gotten a phone call from his dead mother, he'd be as heartbroken as Gibbs.

Stepping out of the car, DiNozzo had the deepest desire to find out why the hell someone would do this to his boss. Sure Gibbs had pissed some people off, but this? This was beyond revenge.

Taking his SIG in his hands and moving towards the small house, Tony glared up at the darkened windows. There was no open view of the inside of the house, which was probably vacant. Not ignoring his training completely, DiNozzo circled the house, checking out the exits and finally settled on using the back door. There were only two exits—the front door and the back door.

Grabbing hold of the handle of the back door, Tony found that it was unlocked, allowing him easy access. He looked to his right, expecting to signal his backup to follow, but he realized that his instincts would have to be relied on more than normal. He didn't have anyone watching his back and at that moment, he truly wished the McGee or Ziva or Gibbs was there to help him. Just to know that there is someone else there for him.

* * *

Abby ran out of the elevator as quickly as she could, Ducky following at his own quickened pace behind her with Palmer. They all looked worried, but McGee and Ziva were preoccupied with their reports. Normally they would have gotten up and greeted them, wasting time, but with the way Gibbs was acting lately, they really weren't sure what to expect. So they just did their reports to the best of their ability and hoped that their boss wouldn't have their arse for it.

Abby stopped in the middle of the bullpen, looking all around. She started at Gibbs' desk and then made a complete circle, ending on Gibbs' desk again. She sighed in frustration, moving towards Tony's desk and pulling upon one of his drawers. She grabbed hold of his badge, but his gun was missing, and Abby wasn't sure if she should be happy that he actually had protection, or upset because her suspicions were correct. "Where is Gibbs!?" Abby yelled at the two working agents. "Where is he!?"

"Abby what's wrong?" Tim asked, getting out of his seat to walk towards her. He placed a calming hand on her shoulder while Ziva moved to a standing position as well.

"Yes. What is wrong Abby?"

Ducky turned towards Ziva before looking at McGee and Abby. He looked down at the ground at first unsure of what to tell them. Looking back up he asked, "Do either of you know where Jethro is?"

"No," Tim answered immediately.

"I do not. But we shall search for him," Ziva offered. She truly had no idea where Gibbs would go. If he was not at his desk or at a crime scene, he could only be in fources: Abby's lab, Autopsy, his office, or the Director's office. And since they hadn't seen their boss ascend the staircase to the Director's office, nor did they see him exit the elevator, they assumed he was not there. Also, if Abby and Ducky were up at the bullpen looking for him, then he couldn't be in the lab or Autopsy. Which raised another question. Why was Palmer here? If they were looking for Gibbs wouldn't they just come alone? "What is wrong? Is Gibbs alright?" Ziva questioned, guilt welling up as she wanted to kick herself for not talking to the older man sooner. She could see the signs of pain, but she had ignored them, assuming he'd take care of them himself.

"We gotta find Gibbs!" Abby yelped again, breaking away from Tim's grip. She moved towards Ducky, "What are we gonna do!? We've gotta help Tony!"

"Tony?" Both Ziva and McGee said at the same time. _Where was Tony?_ "What did Tony do?" Ziva asked in a slight moan. Leave it to DiNozzo to screw something up while they had to worry about Gibbs as well.

She received a glare from Abby, but she quickly turned back to Ducky. He nodded at her before he said, "Abigail, why don't you try calling Tony while I go see if I can find Gibbs?" He stared at her with his best impression of Gibbs' stare, causing her to smile and move towards Tony's desk phone and using it to call his cell. "Ziva, McGee, I want you to tell me who owns the building at this location," Ducky had turned his attention to the two agents, handing them a piece of paper with the location in which Tony had most likely headed. They didn't want to waste time like this, but they needed to make sure Gibbs was alright before going after Tony. McGee and Ziva would just have to learn of the man they were up against through their searches. Ducky smiled to myself as he watched the two agents exchange looks before they both moved to Tim's computer. He enjoyed his little spout of Jethro-esque authority. "I shall find Gibbs." He started to move away from the bullpen, before stopping and turning to Jimmy. "Help them."

With a worried smile and a nod, Jimmy moved towards Abby, listening as she heard the ringing echo in the phone. On the other hand, Ducky moved towards the only place he could think his friend would be. Although he wasn't there often, the Interrogation rooms were always the place where Gibbs would go to get away from everyone. When he was just a probie, Gibbs had used them as his thinking rooms, trying to piece a puzzle together when the bullpen got too hectic for his working mind.

* * *

A/N: Don't worry, some Gibbs comfort in the next chapter, although I can't guarantee that'll be the end of Gibbs' torment. And as For Tony, well he's trying to his best to protect Gibbs. Thanks for reading, let me know what you think!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thanks so much for the comments! And favs! Seriously, I'm amazed with the response to this story. I didn't think it'd get more than 2 comments a chapter! Thanks so much! And…*kicks rock* sorry for the wait. Ugh. I could blame the fact that the last NCIS episode had very minimal…well NCIS, but I won't. I know it was the spin-off pilot, but I was still sitting there saying "Where is Gibbs!? Tony!? McGee!? Ziva?!" Was Ducky even in that episode?! And now tonight's episode! Oh gosh, I've been so psyched for the Rivkin-Tony fight all week and now I have to wait another week to find out what's going on with my favorite couple! Come on Tiva!

Anyway, let the Ducky comforting and DiNozzo consequences commence!

* * *

Chapter 5:

Walking down the hallway to the last room, Ducky knocked before opening the door. Abby had briefed him on everything that had happened, plus the ME had already heard what DiNozzo had said to him at Autopsy, but he wasn't quite sure what to expect. His friend had a hard outer shell, harder than anyone thought possible, but Ducky knew that Jethro's shell had broken and there was no way for him to know how the younger man would react. "Jethro?"

"Duck?" came the slightly shaky reply. Ducky's eyes settled on the man sitting in the chair in the corner of the dark room. The light from the hallway allowed the elder man to see Gibbs' position in the chair; his head was in his hands, his back hunched as his shoulders shook from silenced sobs. Ducky could tell that the senior agent had been running his hands through his hair for his hair was sticking in odd angles. Even with his hands covering his face, the ME could see the red rub marks from the palms of his hands as he scrubbed his face. The tears continued to fall, but Gibbs tried to hide it. Even though Ducky wasn't a trained investigator, he was able to notice everything when it came to Gibbs.

"Oh, Jethro. Why didn't you come to me?" he asked as he moved into the room, turning on the lights and kneeling next to Gibbs. He placed a hand upon Jethro's knee, looking up at the blue eyes behind the rough hands.

"Ducky…what have I done?" Gibbs raised his head and tears were streaming down his face. Ducky did his best to hide his shock, but he couldn't tell how successful he was.

"What do you mean?" Ducky asked, scrunching his face slightly in confusion. He wasn't quiet sure as to what he was referring to.

"Kelly. Shannon. How could I let them die? How come I didn't save them?"

"Jethro," Ducky's voice turned stern. "There was nothing you could do! There was no way for you to know. This is not your fault!" He grabbed hold of Jethro's chin as Ducky stood up, forcing the younger man to his feet, keeping hold of the eye contact. "This is not your fault! You can not change the past. But you can change the future."

Gibbs looked at him before he closed his eyes again with a groan. "How could I let this happen? Kelly. Oh God Kelly. She sounded so sad, so hurt, so angry."

Ducky cut him off suddenly, "That was not Kelly! And you know that Gibbs. That was not your daughter calling you!" He grabbed Gibbs' shoulders, shaking them slightly in the process. "That was not _your_ Kelly calling you! You are a good father!"

"But she—"

"Jethro, that was not your daughter!" Ducky huffed in annoyance at whoever was doing this to their fearless leader. He moved towards the younger man, grabbing him behind the neck and wrapping his other arm around his back in a comforting embrace. At first Gibbs stood inside the older man's grip awkwardly, his arms stiffly at his sides, but he soon found himself resting his head upon Ducky's shoulder, the tears still falling as he wrapped his arms around the older man

"Kelly," he breathed into Ducky's shoulder through tears, though the older man couldn't hear him. "I'm so sorry."

Ducky tried to soothe him with soft comforting words before they heard the door open. In the doorway stood Ziva and McGee, looking on with amazement and fear as Gibbs pulled away from the embrace. His eyes automatically locked onto his two agents. The tears had stopped, but his red-rimmed eyes gave his pain away. Not knowing how their boss would react, McGee had an internal fight with himself about whether he should just slam the door and run for cover or not. On the other hand, Ziva was taking in the scene, momentarily forgetting why they had gone searching for Gibbs and Ducky.

"Did you find something?" Ducky asked, moving closer to the staring agents, hoping to draw their attention to him. He took upon himself the actions and responsibilities of Gibbs, smiling slightly at them as he awaited their answer.

A quick glance between the two men allowed both McGee and Ziva to straighten themselves before Ziva spoke. "The address is a house owned by John Hetfield, a carpenter. No family, no relatives in the area. And no connection to…" she drifted off as she looked over at Gibbs. Neither she nor Tim had known to look for connections between their boss and the man, but Abby had requested it. Even Palmer nodded in agreement, as if he knew something they didn't. Did he? _No, no. It is Palmer. We would know something was wrong before Palmer. Of course we would. Of course…_

Ducky turned to see Jethro looking at his friend with unsure eyes. "What are you talking about?" he croaked out. His eyes passed from one person to the next before he finally came back to Ducky, worry passing through his eyes. The pain and guilt were still there, but they seemed to be pushed aside as new feelings started to erupt.

"Jethro, I'm afraid that Anthony has done something rash. He has gone after John Hetfield."

"But why?" Gibbs asked as he started out of the Interrogation with a new amount of confidence. Although it came off as confidence it was truly just adrenaline and worry. How could Tony do something so stupid? How could he just run into something blind? _Why wasn't I there to set him straight?_

* * *

The door swung open and DiNozzo's gun was the first thing through the open doorway. His eyes scanned the small kitchen, noticing that everything seemed to be untouched and conventional, but sometimes looks are deceiving. Taking cautious steps into the room, his eyes never stopped moving around.

He felt his teeth clench subconsciously before he made his way throughout the entire first floor. The place seemed deserted, but it was too clean to not be abandoned recently, if abandoned at all.

After checking the entire second floor, Tony sighed in annoyance. The call had been traced to that house, so he wasn't going to leave until he found the culprit.

Silently making his way towards the basement—his last hope—DiNozzo found himself wishing that he wasn't doing this solo. He really wanted Gibbs to have his back, but he knew that it was Tony who was having Gibbs' back at the moment. Tony could live with that. Or die, depending upon how this went. _Dying isn't an option, Gibbs would find a way to resurrect me and kill me again._

As he descended the staircase, the overwhelming realization that his plan had to top the list of stupid plans suddenly hit him. The floorboards creaked under his feet, giving away his position. He closed his eyes momentarily before opening them readily. He needed to be completely prepared for what was going on down there.

Hitting the bottom step, Tony yelled, aiming his gun into the room, "NCIS!" He felt slightly stupid since he was yelling to an empty room. Moving quickly to check the room, he cleared it, but continued to keep his gun in his hands although it was lowered. He didn't have his backup to watch his back; he wasn't going to chance putting his only aid away.

His ears alerted him to the shrill sound of a cell phone as his hand immediately reached for his pocket. Flipping his phone open, he realized that his phone was not the source of the noise. Glancing around Tony noticed a cell phone sitting upon a table on the other side of the room. The screen was a bright blue with an unknown number on it.

Not being completely careless DiNozzo made sure that he did not touch the phone with his naked hand, coving it with a spare glove he carried with him. He flipped open the phone and kept it a few centimeters away from his ear, making sure he wouldn't smudge any possible evidence they could get off of it. He didn't answer, but was greeted by soft laughter. Gritting his teeth he waited to see what the voice on the other end was going to say. "Special Agent…" the voice questioned, awaiting a name that Tony was not too willing to give up. The anger had cooled from before, allowing him to think with a clear mind.

"Hmmm, DiNozzo? McGee? Whichever does not matter. What matters is your willingness to help Leroy Jethro Gibbs. But sadly, nothing can save him. This is his punishment."

"You sonuvabitch! Leave Gibbs alone!"

"Ah," the voice chuckled slightly, out of triumphant. "I figured it was you Anthony DiNozzo. It looked like you."

Immediately Tony's eyes roamed the room for cameras that he had missed on his way in. Obviously the asshole was watching him, but from where was a mystery to Tony at the moment.

More cold laughter traveled into Tony's ear before the voice spoke again. "You'll have to try harder next time to catch me. Maybe next time I'll even get to meet you in person." The line died and Tony's grasp tightened, his anger willing him to throw the phone across the room and into the wall. The voice was so smug, so confident; DiNozzo was determined to figure out how to catch this guy.

* * *

After DiNozzo exited the house after a second sweep and placed the cell phone safely in his pocket, he came into the view of four very anxious and worried coworkers. Although they were worried, only Ducky seemed to show it. The other three masked it very well with the look of anger and annoyance.

"Uh…hey guys," Tony spoke as he stayed frozen in his spot. In all truth he had completely forgotten that he'd have to deal with the team after this. All he thought about was catching—and possibly killing—the SOB that was tormenting Gibbs. But as his eyes passed over the four faces in front of him, he couldn't help but stop at the last one.

Gibbs' cold blue eyes spoke volumes. They reprimanded him for his stupidity, berated him for his rash actions, and still held the pain and worry he had felt from his call with his 'daughter'. They brimmed red from the past tears, but they were gone now and replaced by more Gibbs-like emotion. Although Tony didn't know it, Gibbs was worried about him, but upon seeing the younger man well, he just wanted to yell at him for his drastic behavior.

Gibbs huffed out a sigh before grumbling, "DiNozzo, get your car." He turned away, walking back towards his car, leaving the rest of the group to follow.

McGee glared at Tony subconsciously, a little hurt that the older man didn't trust him enough to tell him about what was going on. Hell, even asking him as backup would have been enough, but to completely ignore his ability to help the older man. McGee always thought that the two of them trusted each other enough for things like this—well not exactly like this—but apparently only McGee trusted Tony, not the other way around.

As Tim turned to follow Gibbs, Tony looked over at Ziva, whose face was impassive. He could tell that she was annoyed at him, but the extent of it was unknown. She was pissed that Tony had gone out, half-cocked, after a man whose abilities were unknown. He went in without the knowledge necessary to be prepared, to protect himself, he was blind. And he didn't even ask for backup. Both Ziva and Tim were hurt on that matter, although Ziva felt more betrayed than hurt. How could Tony not believe that she'd only want to help Gibbs? Why would he hide such a thing from her when all she'd ever do was help? There was no way that she would ever have allowed this to go on any longer if she had known what was truly going on with Gibbs.

"Ziva, tell Gibbs I shall be riding back with Tony." At Ziva's questioning look, Ducky added, "I still haven't fully recovered from the drive here." She nodded her understanding before leaving them alone.

"I screwed up Ducky," Tony spoke silently once he thought the rest of the team was out of earshot.

Ducky smile and chuckled slightly before answering. "To quote Jethro, ya think?" He patted the taller man's shoulder lightly, a comforting pat that did the job for a brief moment. They both started towards the area DiNozzo had parked his car. The smile fell off Ducky's face suddenly as he got serious. "At least you know that what you did was wrong."

"The thing is Ducky," Tony admitted, staring at the ground, avoiding Ducky's eye contact. "I don't feel sorry I did it. I just feel bad I didn't get the guy and that everyone's disappointed."

Ducky looked up at the man, turning down every once in awhile to make sure he wasn't going to fall over an unforeseen rock. "No one is disappointed m'boy. We were all worried. You did a pretty radical thing."

Tony rolled his head. "I know, but it felt like the right thing. All I wanted to do was help."

"I understand. And that's all we want to do. But going after an unknown enemy isn't a bright idea, especially without any help from your team. Ziva and Tim would have gone with you in a heartbeat if they had known it was for Jethro. They'd do anything for Jethro, as we all would. You can't assume that you can solve these problems by yourself."

"I just…" Tony sighed as the car came into sight. "I just wanted to help Gibbs. I couldn't deal with seeing him like that. I didn't…"

"What?" Ducky asked.

"I don't like being afraid of him."

"Anthony, why on earth would you be afraid of Jethro? I know the man can be hard, but there is no need to be afraid."

Tony sighed, "I know, I know. I just can't read him, and I don't know what to do." He avoided the real reason he was afraid, still unsure if he could tell Ducky. He wanted to, but he didn't want to let Ducky know how unstable Gibbs had gotten.

Ducky climbed into the car, followed shortly by Tony. "You just have to trust that we all will be able to help Jethro."

Tony nodded as he started the car. He had to trust that, but then why did he have an unnerving feeling in his gut that the team wasn't going to be able to fix this. The voice on the phone—presumably James Hetfield—had seen him, had been watching the team. For him to be able to recognize him from his little outburst, Hetfield must be a little bit more than Tony had originally expected. For the team to be able to take him down, they needed to be as determined as they ever were.

* * *

A/N: Yay! Tony finally does something drastic and he doesn't get hurt in the process! Oh gosh, you have no idea how many different options were going through my mind while writing this, almost all of them ending with (a little) DiNozzo whumping. I just have a weird affiliation with causing pain to my favorite characters. But hey, this is a mostly Gibbs torment fic, sorta, so I'm keeping my thrashing muse away from the other characters.

So, some DiNozzo/Gibbs reprimanding in the next chapter along with some feelings from McGee and Ziva. Anyway, thanks for reading, and let me know what you think!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Thanks again for all the comments! They are wonderful, and they make me smile and make me feel guilty when I take forever updating! I was planning to get the ending of this chapter finished yesterday, before the season finale, but sadly I had somewhere to be and then rushed home to watch the finale. Which was awesome, yet I definitely did not appreciate the evil cliffie! So sorry this took so long.

Alright, I need to do a little rambling on the season finale here. So here's your warning, no matter how useless it may be. NOOO! What has happened to Tiva!? I—No…Ziva! You can trust DiNozzo! Which he better be a good knight in shining armor next season or else! I also need to note that…well…I felt like Gibbs had like 5 lines in the entire episode. Okay, that was a major exaggeration, but I felt like he didn't really get involved with anything. He didn't really butt in like I wanted him to. Ugh, I know that Gibbs doesn't really say A LOT, but God, give me something! But I did really like everything with Director David. And those damn editors with their crafty use of the finale's scenes for last week's preview. Sneaky little buggers. Anyway, I am now anticipating the next season…which is annoying since I'll be waiting *checks watch* about 4…5 months.

Enough of my rambling, although I still have one more thing to address. I stole James Hetfield's name (the lead singer of Metallica, as ra5555 noticed). I'm not creative with names and well, it was the first one that came to mind. So please forgive me James, I know you'd never hurt our Jethro.

* * *

Chapter 6:

There was an urgent notion to just bolt, run away, but Tony ignored it. There was no way he was going to get out of the punishment for his actions. And no matter how much he regretted the lack of results and the look in Gibbs' eyes, he knew he'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Maybe he could always just go down to Autopsy with Ducky and hang out there for awhile, wait until things cooled down. But, who was he kidding? There wasn't going to be time for this to cool down until _after_ he faced the music and talked to Gibbs and the team. In his mind, Tony was trying to figure out which team member would give him the most hell. Gibbs seemed to be the one that was highest on the list, just knowing the way the man's disappointment would continue throughout the days. Ziva would find a way to torture him—whether it's physical or mental, he'd soon find out—and McGee would probably ignore him or try to get some sort of embarrassing revenge. He was just happy that Ducky had his back, well he was the only one that didn't make him feel like a complete failure.

The elevator doors opened to his floor and he stepped out, semi-wishing that he had tried to get back to the base before the rest of the team. He had driven back pretty slow, not wanting to get into the elevator with the rest of them. Tony just imagined the murderous intentions that would be running through all their minds throughout the silent ride.

Stepping out of the shaft with downcast eyes, DiNozzo was a little surprised to find himself falling back into the elevator. The force of Abby's body against his with her arms locked tightly around his neck caused him to lean against the wall. "Tony! You're alright!"

"Yeah Abs, I'm fine." He said quietly into her hair as he reached his arms around her back. He always forgot how hard Abby took these kinds of situations. She always worried when they did something reckless.

A swift punch to his bicep broke him from his thoughts and caused a squeak to escape his throat as his other hand immediately went towards the sight of Abby's violence. "Don't you EVER do that again! You scared me!" She wrapped her arms around him once more before pulling away. A smile was plastered to her face before she pushed him out of the elevator. "Good luck," she spoke as she waved while the doors closed shut on her. He gulped, even Abby knew he was in for a good one.

Taking in a breath, Tony decided to take it in his stride and just face up to it. They can't be that mad, can they?

* * *

There was an overwhelming tension in the bullpen and the longer DiNozzo waited the worse it was going to get. Not that Ziva didn't mind Tony getting what he deserved. She was pissed by the fact that he had just off and left them, not bothering to let them know anything.

Her fingers continued to play with the paperclip she was holding, bending it and unfolding it. She constantly looked over at the elevator, waiting for the doors to open. Abby was standing in front of them, eagerly waiting for Tony's return. She was the only one left that was still waiting to see the senior field agent with happiness.

Ziva had been worried and fearful when she realized what Tony had done, but now was the time for the anger. The mistrust that was held between them was bearing down upon her chest. She had believed that Tony would be smart enough to acknowledge her talents and allow her to help him. She would have happily come with him, happily taken the punishment alongside him, but he had pitted himself against her by just rushing out. He did not think of anyone—only wanted to be the hero. He didn't realize how worried they would be, how upset they would be if they found him…

She shook her head as she heard the elevator door dinged and Abby launched herself into the shaft. Sending daggers through her eyes at that area, Ziva realized that maybe she had taken the relationship between herself and DiNozzo the wrong way. She assumed that they were friends, partners, but maybe they weren't even that. She knew they were still partners, still capable of watching each others' backs, but the idea of a personal relationship was questionable. Did he even hold her in the same regards as she had held him? Didn't he think that she'd want to help Gibbs? Didn't he think he could turn to her for advice or help? She understood that he knew Ducky and Abby a long time, but even Palmer knew before they did. She was not trying to be rude, but she felt that she had a stronger relationship with Tony than he did with Palmer. Obviously her misconceptions were strongly placed under a microscope now.

* * *

McGee's fingers were smacking into the keys a little more roughly than normally, his anger slowly coming out through his fingers. His anger was consuming him enough to make him easily agitated. His eyes continued to move between his computer screen and the area around the elevator. He could see Abby bouncing with anticipation, almost as if Santa himself was coming. Tim knew that Abby would slightly berate Tony for what he did, but her willingness to forgive was a little to easily granted this time. At least according to Tim.

Letting out a loud sigh, he stopped typing. He was still doing some research on James Hetfield, ending up on multiple Metallica websites. But as he worked, his mind continued back upon Tony. The two agents had always been at odds, but it was always friendly—or at least Abby and Ziva assured him it was friendly. Tony had become some sort of big brother figure to Tim, someone that he could look up to—almost—and try to one-up. But apparently Tim's new 'big brother' was a jerk that didn't give a crap about other people's feelings.

Sure, Tony had been trying to protect Gibbs' feelings, but as a partner and a friend, there was no reason for the older man to just run off without telling Tim about anything. Tim had assumed that if the time arose for something drastic—even if it was against NCIS policies—Tony would have come to him and asked for help. Tim would have been easily recruited and he had no doubt that Ziva would have been the first one ready to go. The lack of trust was hurtful, but Tim was angered even more by the fact that Tony didn't think they were capable of helping him. If he thought they were capable then he would have asked them to help, but he didn't. After working with Tony for six years, Tim had assumed it was clear that although he was still called Probie, it was nothing more than a nickname. He certainly wasn't the 'green' probie that he was years ago when he first started out.

His eyes moved towards the elevator and he noticed that Abby's bouncing head had disappeared. McGee had assumed that Tony must have arrived, and he glanced over at his boss who was still sitting at his desk, looking impatient. He knew there would be fireworks before the day was off.

* * *

With his hand grasped firmly on his cell phone, waiting for the faintest ring or slightest vibrate. Even if James Hetfield was behind this, maybe somehow Kelly was still alive. Maybe Gibbs could save her after all. Maybe he could make up for everything he had lost, everything he let get lost. He wanted to know that in the end, Kelly had still been able to survive. That maybe Gibbs' family was still alive, somewhere, and Hell would freeze over before he didn't try to find her.

His eyes moved towards DiNozzo who was walking slowly towards his desk, his eyes scanning the area, but never stopping on any one person. Gibbs' anger suddenly flared as he released how Tony could have jeopardized his daughter's life, at Gibbs' opportunity to save his daughter.

Quickly getting to his feet, Jethro stalked over to Tony's desk much like a hungry animal cornering its prey. His hands laid upon Tony's desk as he leant over closer to the younger man. Tony moved his head lazily but his eyes were stern and convicted. He wasn't about to take a beating with downcast eyes. "Rule # 15," Gibbs stated.

"Always work as a team," DiNozzo answered even though it wasn't a question. His eyes continued to stare into Gibbs', although they lost contact often—bouncing from the floor, to Gibbs, to the window, to McGee, back to Gibbs, and so on.

"I'm glad you remembered." Gibbs spoke quietly. "You got another team I'm not aware of?"

"No, boss."

"Then why'd you go off on your own?" Gibbs' voice was still calm and quiet.

"Why didn't you tell anyone about your phone calls?"

"DiNozzo," Gibbs snapped. "What in the hell were you thinking!?" he bellowed, ignoring Tony's question. Ziva and Tim were both looking at them now, not even trying to deny their onlooking. They both knew that soon Gibbs would get loud enough for the entire floor to hear them.

"I was thinking about you," Tony answered flatly, not breaking eye contact now. Now DiNozzo was making sure that Gibbs understood he was telling the truth. He wanted Gibbs to know that he wasn't just running in their half-cocked; he was trying to _help_ Gibbs, like he said he would. If Gibbs didn't want help, it was too bad. Tony was in a giving mood.

"I don't think you were. If you were thinking of me, you would have realized you needed your _team_ to come with you."

"If we're a team, why didn't you come to us when you started to get those phone calls?" Tony internally cringed. He didn't like talking back to Gibbs, he normally agreed to his stupidity, took the punishment, placed his tail between his legs, and continued with his work, trying his best to make Gibbs proud of him again. But now he needed Gibbs to realize that he needed help, no matter what he thought.

"Those are—"

"None of my business?" Tony cut him off, rising from his seat. "When it affects the team, it's my business. When it affects _you_ it's my business." Gibbs continued to stare at Tony with the same conviction that Gibbs could handle it himself. "Damnit! Why the hell do you think I went there in the first place!? Huh?" No answer. "Because you were hurting! For once, I'd be able to help you, to repay you for all you've done for me! I know it was stupid, but for God's sakes, just shut the hell up and take the damn help!"

"DiNozzo!"

"Gibbs! I'm tired of you denying it! You're out of control!" Tony pointed towards Gibbs' clenched hand. "You're attached to that phone as if it's your lifeline and the last time _he_ called you broke down in tears! Damnit, I don't—Ugh!" Tony huffed with annoyance as he assumed the words weren't piercing Gibbs' thick skull.

Gibbs stared at DiNozzo with a blank stare, unsure of what to make of it. He should be pissed that Tony had mentioned the fact that he cried, but the anger and pain in Tony's voice overwhelmed him. There was no way that the younger man could care that strongly about him, could he? Maybe Tony was thinking too much with his heart and not his head. "DiNozzo, if I needed your help—"

"You do. And you deny it. So if you don't ask, too bad. I'm ending this."

"Ending what?!" Gibbs yelped.

"God, don't give me that! You know what! You need to realize that that…thing, that voice _isn't_ your daughter." Tony slammed his chair backwards as he made his way towards the elevator. Taking quick long strides, he made it there before either McGee or Ziva could even process what was going on. Although by the time the doors were opening Gibbs was already behind DiNozzo.

The two younger agents looked at each other, their anger still present, but waned by their need to help. Getting to their feet, they watched as the doors closed and descended. Waiting to see what floor they stopped at, Ziva and Tim saw that the two older agents had ended up at Abby's lab. The elevator would be back up soon and the sooner it came, the sooner they would be able to help Tony get through to Gibbs, although they themselves did not truly understand the situation. All Tim could say as they waited for the elevator doors to open, "Gibbs' daughter?"

* * *

Tony gulped slightly as his boss entered the elevator. He didn't want Gibbs to see his weakness, especially after what just happened, but he was having trouble hiding it. He watched the emergency switch, desperately hoping that Gibbs would forget its existence. He didn't feel like explaining himself or getting berated and yelled at again. Especially after his last few visits with Gibbs in the elevator.

Gibbs reached his hand into his pocket and kept his clenched hand there for a moment, unsure of what he was doing. Was DiNozzo more important than his daughter? Was there really a reason to be taking this chance? But what Ducky had told him made him want to believe that Tony and the team could help him. Help him save his daughter.

Pulling his cell phone out of his pocket, he placed it into DiNozzo's hand without a word, cupping the younger man's hand around it. Almost immediately afterwards, the elevator opened to Abby's lab, and they were greeted with her usual loud music. Stepping out, Gibbs left Tony looking from the object in his hand to his boss. A small smile crept onto his face as he realized that Gibbs had given him permission to help him. God, the man was actually asking for help and Tony almost wanted to run into the lab jumping up and down, but instead he calmly let the elevator doors close and awaited his berating from his teammates.

* * *

A/N: Since all of the shows I watch are starting their summer hiatus, and school is winding down, maybe I can get some updates up quicker. I swear, every time I say that I end up taking forever. Anyway, thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: *Gibbs slaps self* Oh jez, I haven't updated…*shakes head* I have taken so long on this chapter. Thanks so much for the comments and everything! They really mean a lot!

lot56: Thanks for the comment! I'm so glad you liked the last chapter! I was having a difficult time trying to figure out the Gibbs-Tony moments in it. Glad you thought it was the best one yet!

SA3466996: Yay! I was hoping the last little part would be a good way to end the chapter, with a little bonding, I guess, but nothing too out right. I just love the relationship between Tony and Gibbs, if you didn't know already! Thanks so much.

Alright, so although I have no idea why this took me so long, here it is.

* * *

Chapter 7:

Tony's hand was wrapped firmly around the cell phone, afraid that he might miss the ring or the slight vibrate the phone would give off. His fingers laced around it and released periodically as he ascended in the elevator shaft. Gibbs had gone to Abby's, and now he was off to confront the rest of the team.

Placing his other hand inside his pocket, he realized that there was another cell phone present. Smacking himself upside the head—as Gibbs would have done at his stupidity—he shook his head and left the object in his pocket. After he talked to Ziva and McGee, Tony would take the phone down to Abby for a print check—which he feared he may have ruined by touching it and leaving it in his pocket unbagged—and maybe she'd be able to track the last call made to it.

The doors opened and Tony sucked in a breath before making his way towards the bullpen. He knew that the two other agents had to be pissed at him, especially since they didn't get to have a go at him before. There was tension in the bullpen as the two agents were busy on their computers.

* * *

Tim looked up, not surprised to see DiNozzo standing there. They had waited by the elevator until it stopped at Abby's floor and the two of them moved back to their seats. At first they had whispered to each other about Gibbs and Tony, trying to piece the information they had together, but upon noticing other's curiosity, they quieted. They would have to wait until Tony came back up to tell them.

But first, a little berating.

DiNozzo stopped in the center of the bullpen, looking between Ziva and Tim. He wasn't sure if he should just start explaining what needed to be done, or to allow them their scolding.

Neither of them moved, allowing Tony to decide to just take action. "Alright. We need to figure out where James Hetfield is, what his connection to Gibbs is, and how he managed to get Gibbs' phone number." _And how he was able to use Kelly's voice against Gibbs._ He looked at the two agents, but they both stared at their computer.

Turning her head slowly and deliberately, Ziva stared at him for a moment. "Do you wish to tell us what is going on? Or should we just wait until you come back in a body bag?"

"Or maybe he'd rather just run off and work the case alone," McGee added, nodding at Ziva slowly. Tony fought the urge to roll his eyes; he knew this was coming, but it felt like the time he was in charge when Gibbs 'retired'. The two agents had questioned his motives and his actions often, and couldn't take him seriously. So, what you give is what you get.

"I know."

"I do not believe you do Tony. I do not believe that you understood the danger you put yourself in. Did you think that maybe we would want to help Gibbs just as much as you do? Are you the only one that cares about Gibbs?" Ziva asked, getting to her feet and moving towards Tony. He felt like a cornered animal, wondering if his eyes would grow wide in fright. He stood his ground, standing where he was until Ziva only stood a foot away from him.

"Are we really that incompetent? That incapable?" Tim asked, looking up at Tony with what looked to be malice. No, not malice, something closer to pain.

Tony's eyebrows rose in surprise and turned from Tim to Ziva, noticing how Ziva's eyes flickered to the floor ever so briefly. It wasn't more than two seconds and yet Tony had noticed the agreement they held. Shaking his head before bowing it slowly, he clapped his hands together and looked back up at two agents. "I don't think you're incompetent," he turned his attention to McGee as he spoke. He looked up and made a face as if he was considering the truth that he did not want to admit. "I really, well," DiNozzo put a hand uncomfortably behind his head and rubbed his hair before leaving it flat, "wasn't thinking. I just…acted. Like on auto-pilot." Tony's lips scrunched into a small 'O' before he added, "I'm sorry."

"Apologizes are a sign of weakness Tony," Ziva stated as she nodded. She had accepted his apology…for now. Her eyes turned to McGee, who was still staring at his desk. As his eyes glanced up at DiNozzo, he nodded slightly, but he wasn't completely done with the older agent. There was time for pranks later, now they needed to help Gibbs.

"Alright. Let's go. We need to find James Hetfield. And fast." Tony turned and moved towards the elevator.

"Running off again DiNozzo!?" Tim yelled, trying his best to sound like Gibbs, which was starting to get oddly close to the real thing. He smiled to himself as he watched Tony turn around and backpedal towards the elevator.

"I've got some evidence for Abby!"

* * *

"Abby!" Tony yelled, causing two heads to turn simultaneously at him. He blinked back his surprise at seeing his boss, although it was stupid for him to be surprised since he had seen Gibbs get off on this floor. Grant you, you normally knew if Gibbs was in Abby's lab since the music was normally turned down. But not this time. _Strange._

"Tony!" Abby yelled back, staring at him with a bright smile. "Ya got something for me?" she asked, wiggling her eyebrows with excitement. Her ponytails bobbed along with the rest of her body while she awaited the anticipated Caf-Pow. Shaking his head, Tony could have smacked himself. He should have known that he had to get Abby a Caf-Pow, but she'd have to wait until after she worked her magic.

"Sorry, Abbs. Next time?" he watched as her expression saddened slightly before she looked between Gibbs and Tony with a smile. Normally she would have been a little bit more of a bother towards Tony for not bringing him one, but the fact that Tony was alive and well and that Gibbs hadn't gotten a phone call was overwhelmingly relieving to her. She wasn't about to hold a grudge now. "But I do have something for you to do."

She jumped into the air, turning to fully face Tony as he did so. She grinned at him, her hands stretched out in front of her in anticipation. He stepped forward and dropped the phone into her hand, nothing protecting it from either of their fingerprints. "Tony! What are you doing?!" she gapped at him, quickly placing the phone onto the table cautiously, trying not to ruin any evidence on it.

"Sorry Abbs, I didn't have anything."

"Whose is it?" she asked tentatively, unsure if she was looking at Gibbs' phone or not.

"I found it at the house. I got a call on it. I want you to see if you can find out where the last call was made from or at least who owned the phone that had called this one last. And if you could find any fingerprints on it."

"Psht," Abby interrupted quickly, "fingerprints." She looked up at him, her face turning from a look of mockery to a look of absolute determination. She stepped into an army stance, "Fingerprints. Yessir." She saluted before turning to Gibbs and smiling. He nodded with a smile before turning to DiNozzo and signaling for him to go speak with him in private with his index finger.

Abby turned her attention on the cell phone although she was concentrating deeply on trying to hear the conversation that would soon start between the two agents. Once DiNozzo and Gibbs were outside the lab doors, Gibbs started, "You got a call?"

"From James Hetfield. I know. I didn't bag and tag it, but I didn't have a bag with me at the time, and then by the time I got here, I was too busy trying to get to the bullpen to even think about bringing it to Abby _or_ putting it into a bag. And I just realized it was in my pocket when I went to go talk to—" _Thwack_. Gibbs' hand hit the back of Tony's head in an almost unfamiliar attention, since it had been so long. "Shutting up Boss," he added with a slight smile.

"What did he say?"

Tony wanted to look away, but he couldn't. He had to tell Gibbs—and the rest of the team—that Hetfield had been watching them. How he seemed to know who they were. He sighed heavily. "He knew who I was." Gibbs' face tightened slightly as he thought about that, but waited for Tony to continue. "He said that the next time I might meet him in person."

At the same time Tony's and Gibbs' eyes connected. "Boss, you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I don't know DiNozzo. You thinking that Hetfield might try something?"

Tony smiled. "That's exactly what I'm thinking." He glanced back towards Abby's lab, "I just hope that Abby can get something off that phone before he does try something."

* * *

The elevator dinged and Tony realized that he had been riding that elevator often lately. Well he always rode it up and down multiple times in one day, but he just didn't stay in one area for too long. It had been an extremely long day and Tony knew that if he went home, he'd never get a wink of sleep. His mind would race with information and turn it around until he could somehow figure out a way to make this stop.

The doors opened and he moved towards the bullpen, where he could see McGee's face twisted with concentration as he stared intently at the computer screen, willing it to make sense, while his eyes noticed the back of Ziva's head as she typed on her keyboard as well. It reminded him of when Gibbs had retired to Mexico, leaving him as team leader. He'd walk into the bullpen and see the two working at their computers or talking, while Lee was trying to be the best little agent you'd ever seen. Though he would find it annoying at times.

A phone rang and he reached for his own phone and answered it, but soon realized that his phone had not rung. He gritted his teeth, grabbed Gibbs' phone out of his pocket and walked over towards the bullpen as fast as he could. "McGee, track this," Tony ordered pointing to the phone in his hands as he noticed the number he had committed to memory.

He stepped towards the window, noticing how the sun would be setting in a few hours, and answered the phone gruffly, "What do you want Hetfield?" He tried to force as much venom in his voice as he could, trying to convey how pissed and serious he was. There was no way that Hetfield would be able to think that Tony wouldn't be after his arse.

"_Oh, DiNozzo. Why are you answering Jethro's phone?"_

"I have _Gibbs'_ phone," Tony emphasized the fact that he had no right to call his boss Jethro, "so I could talk to you. What the hell do you want?"

"_Isn't it obvious?" _There was a tsking noise coming from the other end. _"_Jethro_ did not teach you well if you can not figure it out."_ He chuckled before continuing even though Tony started to grumble a few choice words at him. _"I have to say; you are an even less of a talker than Jethro. I didn't think that was possible."_

"Why don't you come here and let me show you what I'd rather do with you."

"_Now, Agent DiNozzo. Why don't you come to me? I know you're tracing this call. You'll get the address. I'll be here this time, but I would very much like to talk to Gibbs now."_

"No."

"_You do know, no matter how much you want to protect him, I'll get him. I'm not just out to torment him, ya know. I want him to suffer before he takes his last breath."_ And the line clicked dead, forcing Tony's eyes off the window and towards McGee as he moved into the center of the bullpen.

"McGee!"

Ziva stared at the agent, worry lining her features as she saw his reaction to the call. She had heard what Tony had said, but his words held nothing to the look upon his face. It was a mixture of pain, anger, vengeance, and impatience. Her eyes traveled to Tim as his eyes never looked up at the sound of Tony's voice yelling his name in a ferocious tone that seemed to demand an answer. It reminded her of Gibbs, and she cocked her head slightly at the comparison.

Tim hit a key and the information landed itself on the plasma. The map grid showed where the call had originated and the address. "Grab your gear." DiNozzo had already moved towards his desk and grabbed his stuff, but Tim and Ziva were not far behind. They were not going to be left behind this time; they would have Tony's and Gibbs's backs on this one.

* * *

"Tony, are you not forgetting someone?" Ziva asked as they made their way to the car. His hand was on the door handle as he stared at her, for a moment his eyes flashed with confusion before he closed them and rolls his head in an exasperated gesture. _Gibbs_.

Should he bring Gibbs with them?

"_Rule # 15."_

"_Always work as a team." _

"_I'm glad you remembered. You got another team I'm not aware of?"_

"_No, boss."_

"_Then why'd you go off on your own?"_

Bringing Gibbs might be what Hetfield would want. He knew that Tony was tracing the call; he wanted Tony to bring Gibbs. He wanted to _kill_ Gibbs and Tony was going to feed him to the lions if he brought him.

But, Gibbs trusted him enough with his cell phone, then why couldn't Tony trust Gibbs with this? If he made Gibbs stay in the car with McGee or Ziva, he'd be safe. He could protect himself plus the added protection of one of the team. He knew that Gibbs would kill him if he didn't bring him in on this.

But what if Gibbs didn't listen? What if Gibbs decided that he didn't need protecting, decided to go off after Hetfield himself? What if Gibbs left and got himself killed? Tony didn't want to bring him to his death.

Tony's eyes glanced towards Ziva and then to McGee. Both pairs of eyes returned the same thought and the same confusion. The indecision in all of their eyes didn't reassure anyone, and they wished that Gibbs was there to make the decision. _Well, if he was here, he'd make the decision. But would it be the right one?_

Pulling his cell phone out of his belt and leaving it in his hand, Tony opened the door and sat down in the driver's seat, but didn't start the car. What if he told Gibbs about it, but didn't bring him? The older man would be pissed, but if he didn't tell him where they were going, he wouldn't be able to follow. Dialing Abby's number quickly, he waited for an answer.

"_Labby."_

"Abby, is Gibbs there?"

"_Of course! Boss, it's for you!"_ Abby yelled as if Gibbs was far away, which Tony doubted he was.

"_DiNozzo?"_

"Gibbs, just got a call from Hetfield. We're on our way to where he is. I'll give you the report when we get back."

"_DiNozzo, where is--?"_

"Sorry Boss, gotta call in back-up," Tony spoke quickly, hanging up the phone and starting the engine. Oh God, he just hung up on Gibbs. "Ziva, call for back-up." Reversing the car, DiNozzo didn't miss the looks of shock on either of the agents faces, although they were only present for a short period of time. Once Ziva finished the call, the rest of the ride was filled with Tony clueing Ziva and McGee into the situation fully, until they had fallen into silence as they all concentrated at the task at hand.

* * *

"Abby, you get that address yet?" Gibbs asked, hitting the button that hung up her phone. He glanced at her angrily. He wasn't angry at Abby, but at Tony. Had the man not understood what he had said about being a team? If they were going after Hetfield, he wanted to be there. Gibbs had to be there, especially if they found Kelly. She'd be scared and confused. He wanted to see her.

The computer chirped, "Got it." Abby looked over at Gibbs, who was already examining the computer. Upon committing the address to memory, Gibbs planted a kiss on Abby's head.

"Nice work." He rushed out of the room as Abby turned to watch him go.

"Where are you going!?" she shouted at him, but received no reply. Was he really going to go after the man that was torturing him? Abby closed her eyes as she wished this would all end.

* * *

A/N: While writing this chapter, I realized that I've continued to make the mistake of forgetting that there is day and night. So I'm going to have to send the team home at some time, but I just like to forget that fact.

Anyway, so the team is going after Hetfield and so is Gibbs. I'll try my best to get my arse moving on the next chapter now. Thanks for reading, let me know what you think!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: *looks sheepishly at the ground…kicks a rock awkwardly* I am so sorry! I truly am! None of my excuses are really worthy of mention, though RL has been a bitch. But no no, no excuses! *Gibbs slaps self twice* I'm gonna start having brain damage if this continues. Anyway, writer's block also contributed to this lack of update. Eek. So, thanks for all the comments and what not. I hope none of you guys completely forgot about this. Okay, I'll stop talking now.

* * *

Chapter 8:

Tony pulled up to the apartment complex, staring at the building. Suddenly all the flaws in their plan started to show themselves. They hadn't known what floor or what apartment Hetfield was in, and that pissed Tony off.

Another thing Tony realized was that he hadn't seen a picture of Hetfield. He was going in their blind—almost—and that made him grit his teeth together. He heard the doors slam shut behind him—their back-up—and he quickly turned to them. He barked orders about which team would go to which floor. There were only three floors, how hard could it be to find him?

"He's on the second floor," McGee stated, looking over at Tony from the steps of the apartment building. "7A actually." He smiled slightly, although that truly wasn't the most ideal time to be happy. Sure, he was still pissed at Tony and worried about Gibbs, but the slight sense of satisfaction when Tony glared at him and realized how quickly they could have figured out the apartment instead of spreading the back-up thin. He watched the other man's jaw twitch slightly, although Tim was fairly certain that Tony must have bitten through his bottom teeth, since his jaw was clenched so tight.

Tony turned his attention back to the six agents in front of him. He only knew four of them, two of them looking to be the probies of their groups. DiNozzo didn't feel that it was necessary to introduce himself or to actually get their names. Maybe later, maybe when he wasn't fighting the urge to run into that building and strangle Hetfield with his bare hands. _I guess it's a good thing that we have back- up to stop _me.

"You heard the man," Tony barked, watching as the agents in front of him moved towards the complex. His eyes looked up towards the second floor window facing him, not even knowing if that was Hetfield's room, but he just concentrated angrily on that window.

"Tony?" Ziva asked, touching his shoulder lightly. "Maybe you should wait in the car. We do not need all of these agents." She stated it so bluntly and so kindly that if Tony had been any less determined, he might have actually listened to her. But instead, he shook his head and headed towards the building, glaring straight ahead. All he could hope was that he'd get the pleasure of interrogating Hetfield later, or possibly putting a bullet in the man if the situation called for it.

* * *

Jethro always drove far beyond the speed limit and managed to never get a speeding ticket—to his team's confusion, but not surprise. But as Gibbs took the turn he needed to, he could have sworn he literally felt the car tilt onto one side, though he couldn't find the time or need to care.

His mind was filled with the need to find his daughter and anger towards his senior field agent. There was no reason for DiNozzo to just cut him off, not even tell him where Hetfield was. His anger started to boil at the thought of his second in command.

Pulling up in front of the apartment building, Gibbs could see the NCIS issued cars lined out front and he glared as if they were the ones stopping him from getting there. He should already be inside with the rest of the team. Growling quickly, he stalked towards the entrance, not noticing until it was too late the gun barrel being driven down onto the back of his skull.

* * *

"Sonuvabitch!" DiNozzo yelled as he glared at the empty apartment. Why wasn't he surprised? It would have been common sense for him to assume that Hetfield would leave. He wouldn't just wait there to be arrested. But damnit, Tony hoped he would have.

"Tony," Ziva started, but paused when Tony walked away, towards the window. His eyes peered out towards the front of the building, where their cars were lined up. He let out a breath. "We will find him."

"Yeah, but what if its not—" Tony stopped mid-sentence and turned on his heels. His small exchange with his boss earlier replied in his mind.

"_Boss, you thinking what I'm thinking?"_

"_I don't know DiNozzo. You thinking that Hetfield might try something?"_

"_That's exactly what I'm thinking."_

He pushed past Ziva and ran out the apartment door, running as fast as he could possibly run. Running as fast as he had the day he'd seen Gibbs' car sink into the bottom of the river. "Gibbs!" he yelled, hoping that his yell would somehow stop what was happening outside.

Ziva turned towards the window quickly before running towards the door. Noticing the silver hair with splotches of blood in it and the man standing over him, she made her way after Tony. "McGee!" she called, getting him to follow her. Tim ran after them, although he had no idea what he was running towards. He could just tell the urgency and worry in his partner's yell. All he could assume that it was about Gibbs, and Gibbs shouldn't be there at all.

"Gibbs!" Tony yelled again as he ran after the van that was speeding away. By the time he made it to the first floor and out the door, the van was slamming its door shut. He continued to chase it until it was out of view, but he made sure that he committed the license plate to memory.

Coming to a pained stop, he yelled in frustration before kicking at the air. Letting out a spew of curse words, he turned to face the rest of his team and his back-up. What was Gibbs doing there? _Why didn't I make sure he was safe? Why didn't I just bring him with me, where I could keep an eye on him? _

Knowing that Tony was blaming himself, Ziva immediately made her way towards him. "Tony, this—"

"We need to get back to the Yard. Get Abby to run the license plate," DiNozzo cut off as he moved away from the team, towards his car. He couldn't deal with being around them; this was all his fault. There was no way around that fact. Tony had screwed up again. It hadn't been that long ago that he screwed up and got the Director killed. What if the same thing happened to Gibbs?

Getting into the car and slamming the door shut, he smacked his palm against the dashboard. How many times could he mess things up before someone stopped him? Vance had every right to send him away after what happened in Los Angeles. He was trying to prevent something like this from happening. _Oh God, how could I be so stupid!?_

Ziva and McGee watched as Tony placed his head on the steering wheel. The phone was glued to McGee's ear as Abby rambled. Her worry was overwhelming and when McGee told her what happened to Gibbs, she went into overload. Tim was barely able to get her to stop long enough for him to tell her that they had the license plate, though he realized neither of them knew it. Only Tony did.

Moving towards the car, Tim looked at Ziva questioningly, slightly afraid of how Tony was going to react. Tony was similar to Gibbs in that aspect. He wasn't sure how they were going to react when they were angry. Yelling was a normalcy, but sometimes the tone or the look upon their face could pierce him hard enough for a small sliver of fear to run through him. Sure, those times didn't happen nowadays, but he could always remember when he first started out. Gibbs was easily one of the scariest people he'd ever met; he _was_ the scariest person that he'd ever been employed under. But it didn't take too long for him to grow used to his boss and Tony's antics. Most of Tony's antics were friendly and playful, but since the day Tony and Ziva had come back from Los Angeles, Tim always feared that there was something much more angry and malicious underneath.

By simply mentioning that the two went swimming, Tony went off. Tim was only trying to lighten the mood a little. It wasn't even what Tony said, not really saying much, but just releasing his guilt. It was the look on DiNozzo's face, in his eyes that truly bothered Tim. He had never seen that look enter the older man's eyes, and he never wanted to see it again, though he knew it was there now.

Tim wrapped his fingers into a fist and tapped the glass lightly. He could hear Abby still talking in his ear, but he was concentrating on the man sitting in the car. Tony looked at McGee slowly, but his eyes burned with guilt and anger. A horrible combo. The combo he didn't want to see again. "Tony, we need the license plate."

Tony stared at him for a few moments longer. "YIK 15D," he deadpanned before turning back to the windshield. "We should get back anyway." He got out his keys and moved to place them into the ignition when he heard his phone go off. He looked up at McGee who had already relayed the license to Abby and was busy trying to keep her on track. Tony's eyes roamed towards Ziva who was talking to the back-up, probably giving them leave. They wouldn't be needed them, at least not yet. Not until they find out where Gibbs was. _If we find out._ Optimism was surely never Tony's strong point during times like these.

His eyes looked sadly down at his pocket as the chirping met his ears; he pulled the phone out. Placing it to his ear without a second thought, he answered. "DiNozzo."

"I told you I wanted to talk to Jethro." The urge to throw the damned phone out the window and stomp on it was very compelling, but instead his fingers laced around the steering wheel in a death grip. Tony felt the color drain from his face as he tried not to completely explode on the phone.

McGee glanced at Tony and noticed the angered look on his face. "Tony?" He turned towards Ziva who was coming towards the car as well.

"You said you'd be here! Where is he!?" Tony yelled, his grip on the phone becoming tighter.

Ziva and McGee looked at each other before Tim asked Abby to trace the call coming in to Tony's phone. Though there wasn't much hope for the phone call or the license plate. Most likely the plates would come back stolen, and the traces continued to turn into just one big goose hunt.

"Agent DiNozzo, I was there. Just not where you thought I'd be. Did you really think I'd just sit there, waiting for you to arrest me?" He chuckled slightly before continuing, "Now Tony. I'll be calling later. You should get some sleep; you've had a long day."

"Where is he!?" Tony yelled even though he heard the click that signaled the end of the phone call. Throwing his phone on the seat next to him, he wasn't able to contain his anger anymore, punching the car door next to him.

"Tony!" Ziva yelled, trying to get his attention. She opened the passenger door and stepped in while Tim took the back seat. "What did he say?"

"He said he'd call back later," Tony gritted out. His eyes were locked on the windshield. Both of his hands gripped the steering wheel as he turned on the car.

"Uh, maybe Ziva should drive," McGee offered from the backseat. He looked between the two agents who were both staring at him, and he suddenly wished he hadn't hung up the phone. Abby hadn't been able to trace the number, and her sadness was too much for him to deal with at the moment, so he decided to end the call. Tony and Ziva stared at Tim as if he'd grown a second head, and he realized that his newfound preference to Ziva's driving must have shocked them both. Normally Tony would have been the safer choice of driver, but in the angered state he was in, Ziva seemed to be the better candidate. Plus, if Tony wasn't driving, he could try to get the man to tell him everything he knew. There was no way that McGee was going in blind, and his need to find Gibbs was just as large as Tony's.

* * *

"Tony, maybe you should get some sleep."

"Yes, it would be good if you got some rest."

Tony glared at the two women standing near him as he waited for Abby's searches. "No," he simply answered. "Gibbs wouldn't sleep if it was one of us."

"Yes, but you are exhausted," Ziva urged. She knew that none of them would be able to get some sleep with Gibbs missing, but they could all see that Tony was taking this the hardest. They were all angry and upset that they let this get this bad. Gibbs had been getting these phone calls for days and none of them tried to confront him on it. Only Tony really tried to help Gibbs.

"No," Tony deadpanned as he got to his feet. He turned to Abby, "Get anything yet?" She looked at Tony for a moment: taking in the tired and frustrated eyes, the strong set of his jaw, the lines of guilt that ran across his face.

Turning towards her computers she began typing. "The license plate came back—"

"Stolen," Tony finished; his voice was laced with defeat but lacked surprise. No matter how many times DiNozzo was able to catch the license plate number, most of the time it was stolen and useless. His eyes looked towards the window.

"Actually," Abby started, a small smile appearing on her face before disappearing again. "The van was licensed to a Sam Hetfield."

"Brother?" Tony asked, turning his attention back to the screen that held the man's face, along with his address and license. Eagerness oozed off him as he leaned forward, examining the man's picture before him. Suddenly another picture came up, and Tony could definitely see the family resemblance.

"Yup," Abby spoke, watching Tony's face. "Do you think he knows where Gibbs is?"

Tony moved away from the computer. Both of the men had the same crooked nose and small lips, but Sam had bigger, green eyes, while James had smaller, brown eyes. The freckles that roamed Sam's face were absent on James' face, while both of their chestnut colored hair resembled each other's exactly. From the birth date on the license and their appearance, DiNozzo estimated Sam to be about 4 years younger than his brother.

DiNozzo gave Abby a peek on the cheek, glad that he remembered to bring her a Caf-Pow this time. He moved towards the door, finally answering her question. "We'll find out."

* * *

A/N: Okay, definitely not my favorite chapter, but I really needed to just get it out there, or I'd probably never get to the next chapter. Whoa, I just checked how long it has been since I last updated, more than 2 weeks! I…oh, jez, I'm just a bad or good (depending upon how you look at it) procrastinator. So anyway. Thanks for reading, let me know what you think!


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Holy…I'm so sorry. At first I had a really good reason why I didn't update, but I just kinda lost it. I'm not sure how well this story is going, but I'm gonna finish, I promise. Anyway, thanks for all the comments! I'm glad that you guys are still reading and liking this.

* * *

Chapter 9:

"Daddy?" Gibbs eyes opened immediately, though his head was throbbing. He turned his head every which way, but he couldn't find his daughter. The room he was in was small, lit by only the overhanging light. He had full view of the room, except a possible blind spot behind him. Kelly wasn't there.

"Daddy? I'm scared!" she yelled and Gibbs noticed a ventilation duct across from him. He pulled against his binds that kept him to the pole he was sitting in front of. His arms were tied behind his back, and as he pulled the ropes burned his skin.

"Kelly! I'm here!" he yelled back, feeling tears spring to his eyes. _Oh God, Kelly's right here!_ He struggled as hard as he could, but didn't make much leeway.

"Daddy!" she yelped again. A squeak of a door hinge echoed and Gibbs looked towards the only door to his room. "Daddy!" she yelled again. He could hear her sobbing. A scream hit his ears and this time the tears fell. Next came a gunshot and Gibbs felt himself sag.

"Kelly!" he yelled, hoping that he'd heard wrong. That he'd heard someone else get murdered—no matter how horrible that thought should have felt to him. "Kelly!" he yelled loudly, more forcibly. Tears were streaking down his face now, and he couldn't breathe. He started to inhale quicker, his chest heaving rapidly. "Kelly!" he yelled one more time, knowing that he wouldn't get an answer, but needed to yell in frustration. His daughter died again. It was his fault again. He should have been protecting her.

A cackling laughter echoed through the vent and Gibbs thought of everything he'd do to the man that killed her. He'd break every bone in his body—more than once. He'd take him apart piece by piece. He'd put a bullet in every joint and socket he had until he bleed to death. He'd shot him in the lung, watching as he lost air and choked on his own blood.

He stopped pulling on his restraints. There was no use. Kelly was gone. Shannon had been gone. There was nothing left. That was it. That was it for Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

* * *

"Tony…" she began, pausing as she tried to think of what she wanted to say. She decided upon something simple and blunt, just the way the men in NCIS liked it. "This is not your fault."

Tony gritted his teeth slightly before turning off the car. Why was everyone saying that? Why did everyone feel the need to 'reassure' him that it wasn't his fault? Of course it was his damn fault. And no amount of words would prove otherwise. Tony just wished everyone would shut the hell up and let him deal with it on his own time. Right now he had to deal with finding Gibbs, blaming himself was just an afterthought.

His eyes flickered towards Ziva out of the corner of his eyes, but he ignored her statement.

Opening and closing the car door, Tony got out and looked at the house in front of him. It seemed homely enough, but he still glared at it. There was no use in thinking that James' brother was any better than himself.

Ziva watched as DiNozzo walked quickly towards the house. She could see how his shoulders were set and the deadly clenching of his teeth. She knew that Tony was taking it hard, leaving no room for any of the rest of the team to screw up. They all needed to get Gibbs back fast, before they lost both of their lead men.

Her phone went off before receiving an angered glare from Tony. Obviously he didn't approve of a noisy entrance. She glanced at the caller id and answered it, hoping that McGee had something good to tell her. Her eyes never left DiNozzo as he continued towards the house, but she concentrated on Tim's voice.

"McGee?"

"Abby ran a background check on James Hetfield and his brother. It turns out that James has done this sort of thing before, along with his brother. But more importantly—" Ziva's attention was suddenly drawn away from McGee's voice as she saw Tony start out into a run.

"I'll call you back," Ziva hissed quickly into the phone, realizing that her anger was being directed unjustly at Tim. She'll explain later, but as of the moment, she had to suppress the urge to scream Tony's name and to suppress the urge to kill Tony. He disappeared behind the house that she was standing in front of, and she had noticed his quickened pace. She wasn't sure if he was just overly eager or if he'd seen Sam Hetfield.

* * *

Tony's eyes scanned the surrounding area, though he wasn't really taking anything in. Merely glancing around to see what was around him, not searching for something in particular. He already knew that what he wanted would soon be found, once he got a hold of the owner of the house now he stood in front of.

Glancing behind him, DiNozzo noticed that Ziva was on the phone with either McGee or Abby. He was just glad that she wasn't trying to convince him that he wasn't at fault. What a load of bullshit that was. Of course it was his fault. If he had been more careful, better prepared, observant, hell, if he had just stopped to think for a moment, he would have realized that Gibbs wouldn't sit on his ass and do nothing. Gibbs would go off, wanting to be with the team, and if Tony had just decided to bring him along with them, then this never would have happened. If Tony had just never been put in charge, this wouldn't have happened. Maybe if he'd let Ziva handle it, she'd have been able to keep Gibbs safe.

But that didn't happen. What done was done. And now, Tony had to try to fix the mess he had created and save Gibbs. If he wasn't so pissed off at himself, he would have smirked. How many times did he ever have to save Gibbs? Most of the time it was the other way around. Though, the bitterness still remained since he was the one that caused Gibbs to get kidnapped.

He saw a quick movement towards the back of the house and without taking a moment to think, Tony took off in a run. He didn't even say anything to Ziva—not that he had even the smallest urge to talk to her—all he could do was run after whatever it was. Grant you, with his luck, DiNozzo would run back there to find out he was chasing a damn stray cat. Which would make his day complete, since he had never been the dog whisperer, or in this case, cat whisperer. That was always Gibbs. _Shit._

Rounding the house, he noticed a man running towards the fence and climbing his way over the six foot fence. Taking a few kicks into the chain holes of the fence and the man was up and over it. Tony almost smiled. Animals—not really his forte. Chasing perps—definitely a strong point of his.

Pushing himself faster, DiNozzo launched himself at the fence and got over as quickly as the other man. He could tell that the man was about his height, and probably younger than him by the youthful and unstrained strides he took. If DiNozzo believed in coincidences, he'd think this was some random kid thinking he got in trouble. But after working under Gibbs for years and working for law enforcement for so many years, Tony knew that there was only one person he was chasing—Sam Hetfield.

His strides became longer, faster, as he continued to gain ground. The man made it to the street at this point and rounded a house. Before the man could make it more than a few feet, Tony was already reaching out to grab him as they both tumbled to the ground.

If the sudden jerky movements that were the pinned man's attempts to break free didn't tell Tony that he was going to be in for a fight, then the punch to the face sure did it. Square in the nose. Which Tony frowned at. Why the nose? Always the nose.

He glared at the man, reflexively moving one of his hands up to touch the tender part of his nose. Gritting his teeth he landed a hard punch to the man's jaw, knocking his head sideways. A small smile crawled onto his face at the pleasure. He knew he wanted to hit him again and get his anger out, but if anything, the punch to his own face was releasing his anger. The pain was a small punishment for what had happened to Gibbs and what _was_ happening to the man.

"Tony!?" He turned to look at Ziva, who had finally made her appearance. He truly hadn't remembered she had come with him until just that moment.

Turning his attention back to Sam Hetfield, he slapped his handcuffs on the man. Lifting the man to his feet, he looked at the younger man's face and knew that he was involved. The guilt that lay in the kid's eyes was more than Tony needed. As he read him his rights, he glanced at Ziva, who was following behind them, glancing between the two men. She whipped out her cell phone and was calling McGee. Tony nodded before frowning as they continued to make it to the car. He just hoped that Sam would break easily.

* * *

A sharp, stinging pain ripped through his shoulder, jerking him from the endless abyss. He had fallen asleep, greeting the unknowing darkness with open arms. He was done; he didn't want anything more to do with life. He'd lost everything…again. He made it through the first time, but now, now everything was different. He wasn't strong enough to stomach what had happened. He couldn't let himself imagine his daughter's dead body, but somehow his mind always created the scene in his mind as vividly as DiNozzo remembered movies.

Hissing his pain, he glanced over to his right, watching as the red hot poker was withdrawn from his shoulder. The cloth of his shirt was burned into his skin, creating a strange color to his otherwise bright red skin. His tear-filled—not from the physical pain—eyes looked up towards the man that seemed to be attached to the poker. He noticed the familiar face, but gave nothing. No thrashing against the restraints around his wrists and ankles. No curses or threats. Not even a smart comment that would make DiNozzo proud. Not even a glare that would make McGee shrink back into the green probie he had been six years ago. He didn't even try to escape in the stealthiest ways that not even the Mossad Officer would be able to see. He gave nothing because he was nothing, felt nothing. He wasn't Leroy Jethro Gibbs anymore. That man was gone, died along with his daughter. Whatever was left—body without soul—sat in his place, but gave nothing.

He could tell that Hetfield didn't agree with the response. Ignoring this, Hetfield moved closer, smiling at the restrained man. He'd been waiting awhile—12 years to be exact. And now he'd finally gotten Special Agent Gibbs in his hands, tortured. And yet it still wasn't enough. He wondered if maybe it wouldn't be enough until the man was dead. He wanted to see him bleeding on the floor, gasping for air as he choked on his own blood.

Hetfield didn't say anything, but continued to stare at the bound man. He would wait awhile before he started the torment, let the man stew in his own self-pity. The expression on his face as he heard his daughter 'die' was enough to hold him over a few hours. There was just so much happiness that that one pained look of endless and hopeless sorrow. The smile on his face only grew as he leaned in towards Jethro. "Maybe I shoulda kept your daughter alive a littler longer. I could have used the company."

Jethro glared up at Hetfield, hating the way he was feeling, hating the way the man smiled down at him, hating this entire situation, hating his life. Gibbs hated himself most of all. He could have stopped all of this if wasn't such a goddamned pansy. If he had just gone after Kelly to begin with this would all have been fine. But now, she was dead. He was back where he started.

* * *

Tony glared at the man behind the one way glass, arms folded over his chest. Ziva said she wanted to interrogate him, but as Tony continued to glance at the clock, he was about to. He had every right to go in there and lay into this guy until he screamed the information he needed. But Ziva said she wanted to do it, that she could get it faster without losing her head—he was fairly certain she was insinuating something from that remark.

_1…2…3…4…screw it._ Tony couldn't calm himself down, and if he had to release some of his anger at Sam Hetfield, then he would.

Rubbing his nose angrily, he was definitely doing it himself. Striding towards the door, DiNozzo didn't have a chance as the door flung open ferociously. Grabbing hold of his nose again as the pain seemed to snake up his face and into his brain; he glared at the Mossad Officer in front of him. Touching his nostrils, no blood was drawn, though it still hurt like a bitch. _Why is it always the nose?!_

"Tony…" she began, "I am sorry."

"Save it," he said quickly, pushing past her and into the hallway. He had no patience for anything anymore.

"Tony, wait!" she yelped, grabbing hold of his arm. He spun around quickly, looking at her furiously. DiNozzo wasn't in the mood for interruptions of any sorts, wanting to find Gibbs as soon as possible. The sooner they found Gibbs, the sooner he'd be safe, the sooner he wouldn't have to think about the worry in Abby's eyes, the quickening of Ziva's pace—as though if she moved her normal pace, they wouldn't get their on time—the way that McGee huffed in frustration as he typed on his keyboard. God, all of them were trying to deal with it in their own way, but this was DiNozzo's fault. And if he was going to fix it, to any degree whatsoever, he needed to get moving with the information gathering. If Sam knew where Gibbs was, then they'd be able to get him quickly before any harm was done. _If it wasn't done already._

"What?" Tony hissed, glaring at the woman in front of him. He noticed a slight shift in posture, knowing that he had caught her off guard, but she continued to stare at him defiantly.

"McGee has a location."

"What?!" Tony yelled, already moving past her and towards the bullpen. Ziva ran after him, trying to talk to him while keeping pace with him.

"It seems the van went through some toll booths with an Ease-pass. McGee was able to trace it."

"Let's go," DiNozzo spoke, not even noticing Ziva's mistake, reaching the elevators and signaling for both Ziva and McGee to follow. As the elevator opened, Tony almost walked right into Abby.

"Tony!" she yelped quickly, looking worried. She stared at him and noticed the determination in his eyes.

"Abby, we gotta go," he stated flatly, not willing to waste any more time than he had to.

"I know. But I did some research on James Hetfield. Apparently he's been in and out of juvie and jail since he was 13. First it was small things like possession of marijuana, but then it became 2 counts assault with a deadly weapon, 2 counts of attempted murder, and 1 count of murder in the first degree."

"I get it Abby," Tony cut in as McGee and Ziva entered the elevator.

"No you don't. Hetfield has been wanted for the murder of an ex-Marine that happened 9 years ago. Gibbs worked the case. Not even Gibbs could catch him." Tony nodded at this, staring at the ground before looking up at Abby.

"If he was out, then why did he come after Gibbs?"

"I don't know," Abby answered just as the elevator doors opened. "I don't want you to get hurt." She paused. "Just be careful."

"We will," Tony answered before running off towards their car, knowing that he couldn't half-ass this. If he was going to go into the belly of the beast, Tony was going to make sure he was prepared. He needed to make sure that he was guaranteed to get Gibbs back. And he knew that his two teammates were just the people to help him get their leader back.

* * *

A/N: Once again I'm sorry for the late update. And by late, I mean really late. Anyway, thanks for reading. Let me know what you think.


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